Luca Cordero di Montezemolo (; born 31 August 1947) is an Italian businessman, former Chairman of
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
, and formerly Chairman of
Fiat S.p.A. and President of
Confindustria
The General Confederation of Italian Industry ( it, Confederazione generale dell'industria italiana), commonly known as Confindustria, is the Italy, Italian employers' federation and national chamber of commerce, founded in 1910. It groups togeth ...
and FIEG. He comes from an aristocratic family from the region of
Piedmont
it, Piemontese
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in Italy. He graduated with a degree in law from
La Sapienza University
The Sapienza University of Rome ( it, Sapienza – Università di Roma), also called simply Sapienza or the University of Rome, and formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a public research university located in Rome, Ita ...
in 1971. Afterward, he studied for a master's degree in international commercial law at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
. He is one of the founders and former president of
NTV NTV may refer to:
Television
* NTV (Bangladesh), a Bengali-language satellite television channel in Bangladesh
* NTV (India), Telugu regional channel
* NTV (Kenya)
* NTV (Mongolia), a television channel based in Mongolia
* NTV (Newport Television) ...
, an Italian company which is Europe's first private open access operator of 300 km/h (186 mph) high-speed trains.
In 2009, Montezemolo founded
Future Italy, a
free market
In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any o ...
think tank
A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...
that joined
Civic Choice
Civic Choice ( it, Scelta Civica; SC) was a centrist and liberal political party in Italy founded by Mario Monti. The party was formed in the run-up of the 2013 general election to support the outgoing Prime Minister Monti and continue his polit ...
in the
2013 Italian parliamentary election.
Biography
Ancestry and family background
Born in
Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...
,
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 re ...
, he is the youngest son of Massimo Cordero dei Marchesi di Montezemolo (1920–2009), a Piedmontese aristocrat whose family served the Royal
House of Savoy
The House of Savoy ( it, Casa Savoia) was a royal dynasty that was established in 1003 in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, the family grew in power from ruling a small Alpine county north-west of Italy to absolute rule of ...
for generations, and Clotilde Neri (1922-2017), niece of famed Italian surgeon Vincenzo Neri. His uncle, Admiral Giorgio Cordero dei Marchesi di Montezemolo (1918–1986) was a commander in the
Regia Marina
The ''Regia Marina'' (; ) was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy (''Regno d'Italia'') from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the Italian constitutional referendum, 1946, birth of the Italian Republic (''Repubblica Italiana''), the ''Regia Marina'' ch ...
in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. His grandfather, Mario (1888–1960) and great-grandfather Carlo (1858–1943) were both Generals in the Italian Army. He is also a relation to
Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo
Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo (27 August 1925 – 19 November 2017) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic church. He worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See from 1977 until he retired in 2001. As Archpriest of the Basilica of Saint ...
(his father Massimo and Andrea were cousins), who became a
cardinal
Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to:
Animals
* Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds
**''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae
**''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...
in 2006 and whose father, colonel Giuseppe Cordero di Montezemolo, was killed by the
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
occupation troops during the
massacre of the Fosse Ardeatine in Rome in 1944. His surname is actually "Cordero di Montezemolo" and the correct usage is either the full surname or just Montezemolo (omitting the "di");
Marchesi is a noble title.
Career
![Luca Cordero di Montezemolo - GianAngelo Pistoia](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/Luca_Cordero_di_Montezemolo_-_GianAngelo_Pistoia.jpg)
Montezemolo's sporting career began at the wheel of a
Giannini
Giannini is a Brazilian musical instruments manufacturing company, based in Salto, São Paulo.
Products currently manufactured by Giannini include electric, steel-string acoustic, nylon-string acoustic and bass guitars. Other string instrum ...
Fiat 500 which he raced together with his friend Cristiano Rattazzi. Later, Montezemolo briefly drove for the privately owned
Lancia
Lancia () is an Italian car manufacturer and a subsidiary of FCA Italy S.p.A., which is currently a Stellantis division. The present legal entity of Lancia was formed in January 2007 when its corporate parent reorganised its businesses, but it ...
rally
Rally or rallye may refer to:
Gatherings
* Demonstration (political), a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade
* Pep rally, an event held at a United States school or college sporting event
Sports ...
team known as HF Squadra Corse. He joined the auto manufacturing conglomerate FIAT S.p.A., headquartered in Torino, Italy, and in 1973 was moved to Ferrari, where he became
Enzo Ferrari
Enzo Anselmo Giuseppe Maria Ferrari (; 20 February 1898 – 14 August 1988) was an Italians, Italian motor racing driver and entrepreneur, the founder of the Scuderia Ferrari Grand Prix motor racing team, and subsequently of the Ferrari ...
's assistant and, in 1974, manager of the
Scuderia. During his involvement with the team, Ferrari won the Formula One World Championship with
Niki Lauda
Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda (22 February 1949 – 20 May 2019) was an Austrian Formula One driver and aviation entrepreneur. He was a three-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, winning in , and , and is the only driver in Formula ...
in 1975 and 1977. In 1976 Montezemolo was promoted to become head of all FIAT racing activities, and in 1977 he advanced to become a senior manager of FIAT.
Throughout the 1980s, Montezemolo occupied a number of positions in the FIAT empire, including managing director of the drinks company
Cinzano
Cinzano () is an Italian brand of vermouth, a brand owned since 1999 by Gruppo Campari.
History
Cinzano vermouths date back to 1757 and the Turin herbal shop of two brothers, Giovanni Giacomo and Carlo Stefano Cinzano, who created a new "vermo ...
and director of the publishing company Itedi. In 1982, he managed
America's Cup
The America's Cup, informally known as the Auld Mug, is a trophy awarded in the sport of sailing. It is the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one f ...
challenge of Team
Azzurra
Azzurra is a yacht racing team that competed in the America's Cup, the Audi MedCup and the 52 Super Series for the Italian Yacht Club Costa Smeralda.
History
Funded by business magnate Aga Khan IV and industrialist Gianni Agnelli, and managed ...
, the first Italian yacht club to enter the event. In 1985, he became manager of the Organizing Committee for 1990
World Cup Italia.
In November 1991, FIAT Chairman
Gianni Agnelli
Giovanni "Gianni" Agnelli (; 12 March 192124 January 2003), nicknamed ("The Lawyer"), was an Italian industrialist and principal shareholder of Fiat. As the head of Fiat, he controlled 4.4% of Italy's GDP, 3.1% of its industrial workforce a ...
appointed Montezemolo president of Ferrari, which had been struggling since Enzo Ferrari's death. Montezemolo made it his personal goal to win the
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, ...
World Constructors' Championship once again. Montezemolo quickly made changes at the Italian team, signing up Niki Lauda as consultant and promoting
Claudio Lombardi to team manager role. During the 1990s he resurrected the Ferrari road car business from heavy debts into solid profit. He also took on the presidency of
Maserati
Maserati S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer. Established on 1 December 1914, in Bologna, Italy, the company's headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. The company has been owned by Stellantis since 2021. Ma ...
when Ferrari acquired it in 1997, until 2005.
Under Montezemolo and executive director
Jean Todt
Jean Todt (; born 25 February 1946) is a French motor racing executive and former rally co-driver. He was previously director of Peugeot Talbot Sport and then Scuderia Ferrari Formula 1 team principal, before being appointed chief executive offic ...
, the Ferrari Formula One team won the
World Drivers' Championship in
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
, the first time since
1979
Events
January
* January 1
** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...
. The previous year,
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...
, they had won the Constructors' Championship for the first time since
1983
The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call.
Events January
* January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...
.
![Luca di Montezemolo con Paolo Poli](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Luca_di_Montezemolo_con_Paolo_Poli.jpg)
On 27 May 2004, Montezemolo became president of Italian business lobby
Confindustria
The General Confederation of Italian Industry ( it, Confederazione generale dell'industria italiana), commonly known as Confindustria, is the Italy, Italian employers' federation and national chamber of commerce, founded in 1910. It groups togeth ...
. Days later, following the death of
Umberto Agnelli
Umberto Agnelli (; 1 November 1934 – 27 May 2004) was an Italian industrialist and politician. He was the third son of Virginia Agnelli (born Donna Virginia Bourbon del Monte) and of Edoardo Agnelli, and the youngest brother of Gianni Agnelli. ...
on 28 May, he was elected chairman of
Fiat S.p.A., Ferrari's parent company. Since 20 December 2004, he has also been president of the
LUISS, the Free International University for Social Studies Guido Carli in Rome.
Montezemolo has often been reported to have aspirations of a career in Italian politics, most recently the office of Prime Minister, but has always denied the rumours.
On 29 July 2008, Montezemolo founded the
Formula One Teams Association
The Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) was a group of Formula One teams that formed at a meeting in Maranello on 29 July 2008. The organisation was formed to give the teams a united voice in negotiations with the FIA and the Formula One Gro ...
(FOTA) which he presided over from 2008 to 2010, eventually being replaced by
McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...
CEO
Martin Whitmarsh
Martin Richard Whitmarsh (born 29 April 1958) is a British businessman and Group CEO of the Aston Martin Performance Technologies team since 21 September 2021.
Whitmarsh is best known to motorsport insiders, media and fans for his long and succ ...
. The Committee used to meet on a regular basis to discuss improvements to
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, ...
. FOTA was formally dissolved in 2014.
In April 2010,
John Elkann
John Philip Jacob Elkann (born 1 April 1976) is an Italian industrialist. In 1997, he became the chosen heir of his grandfather Gianni Agnelli, following the death of Gianni's nephew Giovanni Alberto Agnelli and since 2004 has been leading the A ...
replaced Montezemolo as Chairman of
Fiat S.p.A.
On 10 September 2014, Montezemolo resigned as president and chairman of Ferrari following increasing tension with his would-be successor, FIAT Chrysler CEO,
Sergio Marchionne
Sergio Marchionne (; 17 June 1952 – 25 July 2018) was an Italian-Canadian businessman, widely known for his turnarounds of the automakers Fiat and Chrysler, his business acumen and his outspoken and often frank approach, especially when dealing ...
.
On 26 November 2014, Montezemolo was appointed non-executive chairman of the Board of Directors of Italian flag carrier
Alitalia
Alitalia - Società Aerea Italiana Società per azioni, S.p.A., operating as Alitalia (), was an Italian airline which was once the flag carrier and largest airline of Italy. The company had its head office in Fiumicino, Metropolitan City of ...
. In February 2015 he became committee president of the
Rome bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics
The Rome bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics and Summer Paralympics was an attempt to bring the 2024 Summer Olympics to the city of Rome. On 21 September 2016, Rome withdrew its bid for the Games.
Bid history
The city hosted the 1960 Summer Olympic ...
.
In July 2015, he was inducted into the
Automotive Hall of Fame
The Automotive Hall of Fame is an American museum. It was founded in 1939 and has over 800 worldwide honorees. It is part of the MotorCities National Heritage Area. the Automotive Hall of Fame includes persons who have contributed greatly to au ...
.
He received the ''America Award'' of the
Italy-USA Foundation in 2017.
Personal life
In 2012 Montezemolo was issued a
suspended sentence
A suspended sentence is a sentence on conviction for a criminal offence, the serving of which the court orders to be deferred in order to allow the defendant to perform a period of probation. If the defendant does not break the law during that ...
of one year imprisonment by the court in
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
for the unauthorized construction of his personal residence in
Anacapri
Anacapri () is a ''comune'' on the island of Capri, in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Italy.
Anacapri is located higher on the island than Capri (about higher on average)http://www.capritourism.com/imgg/download/capri_map_en.pdf —the Anc ...
, Italy.
Awards
References
*
*
*
External links
Luca de Montezemolo – Ferrari Chairman interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Montezemolo, Luca Di
Italian business executives
Italian chairpersons of corporations
Italian industrialists
1947 births
Living people
Businesspeople from Bologna
People of Piedmontese descent
Ferrari people
Formula One people
Fiat people
Italian rally drivers
Italian racing drivers
International Motorsports Hall of Fame inductees
People named in the Panama Papers
Presidents of Confindustria
20th-century Italian businesspeople
21st-century Italian businesspeople
Italian motorsport people
Automotive businesspeople
Nobility from Bologna
Sportspeople from Bologna