Alessandro Benetton (born 2 March 1964) is an Italian businessman. He served as Chairman of the

Benetton Group Benetton Group S.r.l. () is a global fashion brand based in Ponzano Veneto, Italy, founded in 1965. Benetton Group has a network of about 5,000 stores worldwide. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Benetton family's holding company Edizi ...

from April 2012 to May 2014.

Early life

Alessandro Benetton is the son of

Luciano Benetton Luciano Benetton (born 13 May 1935) is an Italian billionaire businessman and one of the co-founders of Benetton Group, an Italian fashion brand. He served as the chairman of Benetton from 1978 to 2012. Early life Luciano Benetton was born on ...

and Maria Teresa Maestri. He attended university in the United States where he graduated from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original cam ...

in 1987 with a degree in Business Administration and in 1991 received his Master of Business Administration from

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

Career

In 1992, Alessandro Benetton create
21 Investimenti S.p.A.
(the company changed its name in 21 invest in November 2018). Today the European Group has offices in Treviso, Milan, Paris and Warsaw. He is one of the pioneers of

private equity In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a t ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. Some of the companies that have been successfully relaunched are Pittarosso and The Space Cinema. Benetton served as Chairman of the

Benetton Formula Benetton Formula Ltd., commonly referred to simply as Benetton, was a Formula One constructor that participated from to . The team was owned by the Benetton family who run a worldwide chain of clothing stores of the same name. In 2000, the t ...

from 1988 to 1998. His chairmanship years were marked by

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

victories (26 out of the team's total 27), including two world titles won with

Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher (; ; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver who competed in Formula One for Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari, and Mercedes. Schumacher has a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Lewis ...

in 1994 and 1995, a manufacturing victory in 1995, and a collaboration with

Nelson Piquet Nelson Piquet Souto Maior (, born 17 August 1952) is a Brazilian retired racing driver and businessman. Since his retirement, Piquet, a three-time World Champion, has been ranked among the greatest Formula One (F1) drivers in various motorspo ...

Jean Alesi Jean Alesi (born Giovanni Alesi, 11 June 1964) is a French professional racing driver of Italian origin. After successes in minor categories, notably winning the 1989 Formula 3000 Championship, his Formula One career included spells at Tyrrell ...

Riccardo Patrese Riccardo Gabriele Patrese (born 17 April 1954) is an Italian former racing driver, who raced in Formula One from to . He became the first Formula One driver to achieve 200 Grand Prix starts when he appeared at the 1990 British Grand Prix, and ...

Alessandro Nannini Alessandro "Sandro" Nannini (born 7 July 1959) is a former racing driver from Italy. He is the younger brother of singer Gianna Nannini. His five-year F1 career resulted in his one and only win at the 1989 Japanese Grand Prix but ended less than ...

. From 1988 to 1989, he worked in the Global Finance department at

Goldman Sachs International Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, Hong ...

in London as an analyst in the Mergers and Acquisitions and Equity Offering sectors. In 2012, Luciano Benetton handed over the chairmanship of the Benetton Group to his eldest son Alessandro. He later chaired the company for two years, from 2012 to 2014. Also in 2016, Alessandro Benetton stepped down from Benetton Group Board of directors, due to differences with the company's new strategies. In May 2022, he published "La Traiettoria", an autobiography about his professional career and the choices he made during his life.

Other positions held

He was a member of the Advisory Committee of Robert Bosch International Beteiligungen AG in Zurich, the consultancy unit of the Swiss holding for the foreign activities of the

Bosch Group Robert Bosch GmbH (; ), commonly known as Bosch (stylised as BOSCH), is a German multinational engineering and technology company headquartered in Gerlingen, Germany. The company was founded by Robert Bosch in Stuttgart in 1886. Bosch is ...

. Following an agreement between Edizione and Dufry, in 2022 he became Honorary Chairman of Autogrill S.p.A. He was President of Cortina Foundation 2021, the entity responsible for the organization of the FIS Alpine World Ski Championship scheduled in

Cortina d’Ampezzo Cortina d'Ampezzo (; lld, Anpezo, ; historical de-AT, Hayden) is a town and '' comune'' in the heart of the southern (Dolomitic) Alps in the Province of Belluno, in the Veneto region of Northern Italy. Situated on the Boite river, in an alpi ...

(BL) for January 2021. In January 2022, Alessandro Benetton took on the role of Chairman of Edizione, which became an S.p.A. company.

Personal life

He has been married for 13 years to former Olympic and Alpine World Ski champion

Deborah Compagnoni Deborah Compagnoni (; born 4 June 1970) is an Italian former Alpine skier who won three gold medals at the 1992, 1994, and 1998 Winter Olympics. Biography Deborah Compagnoni was born in Bormio, northern Lombardy, and skied with the G.S. Forest ...

, with whom he has three children: Agnese, Tobias and Luce. He is involved in a variety of sports at a competitive level, particularly Alpine skiing - where he is a coach for the Italian Winter Sports Federation - and kite surfing. He is a collector of modern art.

Honors

In 2010, he was appointed

Cavaliere del Lavoro The Order of Merit for Labour ( it, Ordine al Merito del Lavoro) is an Italian order of chivalry that was founded in 1923 by King Vittorio Emanuele III. It is awarded to those "who have been singularly meritorious" in agriculture, industry and ...

by the President of the Italian Republic at the time,

Giorgio Napolitano Giorgio Napolitano (; born 29 June 1925) is an Italian politician who served as president of Italy from 2006 to 2015, the first Italian president to be re-elected to the presidency. Due to his dominant position in Italian politics, some critics ...

. In 2016, he received the America Award of the Italy-USA Foundation.

Awards

In 2012, he sponsored United Colors of Benetton's UnHate communication campaign, winner of the Press Grand Prix at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. In 2011, he was named Entrepreneur of the Year by EY.

Publications

External links

Gilberto Benetton Gilberto Benetton (19 June 1941 – 22 October 2018) was an Italian billionaire businessman, one of Europe's most influential industrialists. He was a co-founder of Benetton Group, the Italian fashion brand which he started and ran with his three ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benetton, Alessandro Italian businesspeople 1964 births Living people Boston University School of Management alumni Harvard Business School alumni

Alessandro Alessandro is both a given name and a surname, the Italian form of the name Alexander. Notable people with the name include: People with the given name Alessandro * Alessandro Allori (1535–1607), Italian portrait painter * Alessandro Baricco ...

Goldman Sachs people Formula One team owners Italian expatriates in the United States Italian motorsport people Benetton Formula