Paolo Scaroni (born 28 November 1946) is an Italian businessman and banker, currently the chair of

A.C. Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 and 1982–83 seasons ...

. Between 2002 and 2014 he has been chief executive officer of Italian energy companies

Enel Enel S.p.A. is an Italian Multinational corporation, multinational manufacturer and distributor of electricity and gas. Enel, which originally stood for Ente nazionale per l'energia elettrica (National Electricity Board), was first established ...

and

Eni Eni S.p.A. () is an Italian multinational energy company headquartered in Rome. Considered one of the seven "supermajor" oil companies in the world, it has operations in 69 countries with a market capitalization of US$54.08 billion, as of 11 Ap ...

Education

In 1969, Scaroni graduated from

Bocconi University Bocconi University ( it, Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi, ) is a private university in Milan, Italy. Bocconi provides education in the fields of economics, finance, law, management, political science, public administration and computer sci ...

of Milan in the field of economics. In 1973 he obtained an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

from

Columbia Business School Columbia Business School (CBS) is the business school of Columbia University, a Private university, private research university in New York City. Established in 1916, Columbia Business School is one of six Ivy League business schools and is one ...

Career

In 1969, Scaroni joined

Chevron Corporation Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation. The second-largest direct descendant of Standard Oil, and originally known as the Standard Oil Company of California (shortened to Socal or CalSo), it is headquartered in S ...

for three years. After obtaining MBA, Scaroni was an associate at

McKinsey & Company McKinsey & Company is a global management consulting firm founded in 1926 by University of Chicago professor James O. McKinsey, that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. McKinsey is the oldest and ...

. In 1973, he joined

Saint-Gobain Compagnie de Saint-Gobain S.A. () is a French multinational corporation, founded in 1665 in Paris and headquartered on the outskirts of Paris, at La Défense and in Courbevoie. Originally a mirror manufacturer, it now also produces a variety of ...

, where he held different positions, culminating with his appointment as president of

flat glass Plate glass, flat glass or sheet glass is a type of glass, initially produced in plane form, commonly used for windows, glass doors, transparent walls, and windscreens. For modern architectural and automotive applications, the flat glass is s ...

division. In 1985, he was appointed CEO of

Techint Techint is an Argentine conglomerate founded in Milan in 1945 by Italian industrialist Agostino Rocca and headquartered in Milan (Italy) and Buenos Aires (Argentina). As of 2019 the Techint Group is composed of six main companies in the following ...

. In 1996, he moved to the United Kingdom to become chief executive officer of

Pilkington Pilkington is a Japanese-owned glass-manufacturing company which is based in Lathom, Lancashire, United Kingdom. In the UK it includes several legal entities and is a subsidiary of Japanese company NSG Group. Prior to its acquisition by NSG i ...

Enel and Eni

From May 2002 to May 2005 he served as CEO of

, Italy's leading electricity company. At Enel, Scaroni made a real breakthrough by abandoning the traditional multi-utility corporate model, supported by his predecessor Franco Tatò, in favour of placing greater focus on the core energy business. Under his mandate, Enel created a separate

wind energy Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to electricity generation, generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable energy, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller Environmental impact of wi ...

unit and, for the first time, Enel was included in the

Dow Jones Dow Jones is a combination of the names of business partners Charles Dow and Edward Jones. Dow Jones & Company Dow, Jones and Charles Bergstresser founded Dow Jones & Company in 1882. That company eventually became a subsidiary of News Corp, and ...

Sustainability Index. In 2005 he was appointed CEO of ENI, the Italian multinational energy company, considered one of the seven world supermajors. In his 9 years at ENI, Scaroni reduced the weight of oil in favour of natural gas, seen as an intermediate transition combustible in the path toward even more sustainable sources. In 2012, Eni was included in the Carbon Performance Leadership Index, which scores companies based on their commitment to transparency and environmental leadership. During Paolo Scaroni's tenure ENI

net worth Net worth is the value of all the non-financial and financial assets owned by an individual or institution minus the value of all its outstanding liabilities. Since financial assets minus outstanding liabilities equal net financial assets, net ...

increased from €39 billions to €61 billions. He left his role in 2014.

A.C. Milan

On 21 July 2018 he became chair ( it, presidente) of

after the club was taken over by

Elliott Management Corporation Elliott Investment Management is an American investment management firm. It is also one of the largest activist funds in the world. It is the management affiliate of American hedge funds Elliott Associates L.P. and Elliott International Limit ...

. He was one of the 8 directors of the club after the takeover by

Li Yonghong Li Yonghong (born 16 September 1969) is a Chinese businessman and investor who first came into the public eye in 2016 when he succeeded Silvio Berlusconi as the owner of the Italian football club A.C. Milan. Li is also known for his stock mark ...

. In June 2020, Li accused Scaroni of having a conflict of interest in the club's management. Among other issues, Li cited Scaroni's position as deputy chairman of Rothschild Italia (which advised on the acquisition of the club) as well as his prior business relationship with Elliott. Paolo Scaroni has won the

Scudetto The ''scudetto'' (Italian language, Italian for: "little shield") is a decoration having the colors of the flag of Italy which is sewn onto the jersey of the Italian sports clubs that won the highest level championship of their respective sport in ...

Serie A 2021–2022 as President of A.C. Milan on 22 May 2022, and was confirmed is his position as Chariman in September 2022 also following the acquisition of Milan AC by US Fund RedBird.

Other current and past roles

In addition to his executive management position, Scaroni, has or has had numerous non-executive roles, amongst which: * Deputy Chairman of Rothchild & Co. * Vice Chairman of the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...

* Chairman of Giuliani Group srl * Chairman of Sicura SpA * Chairman of

Alliance Unichem Alliance Boots GmbH was a multinational pharmacy-led health and beauty group with corporate headquarters in Bern, Switzerland and operational headquarters in Nottingham and Weybridge, United Kingdom. The company had a presence in over 27 coun ...

* President of

L.R. Vicenza L.R. Vicenza, commonly referred to as Vicenza, is an Football in Italy, Italian football club based in Vicenza, Veneto. Founded in 1902 as Associazione del Calcio in Vicenza, they became Lanerossi Vicenza in 1953, then Vicenza Calcio from 1990 ...

* board member of

Veolia Environment Veolia Environnement S.A., branded as Veolia, is a French transnational company with activities in three main service and utility areas traditionally managed by public authorities – water management, waste management and energy services. It pr ...

* board member of

BAE Systems BAE Systems plc (BAE) is a British multinational arms, security, and aerospace company based in London, England. It is the largest defence contractor in Europe, and ranked the seventh-largest in the world based on applicable 2021 revenues. ...

* board member of

ABN AMRO ABN or abn may refer to: Companies * ABN AMRO Group, a Dutch bank group * ABN AMRO, sometimes referred to as "ABN" in shorthand, is a Dutch state-owned bank * Algemene Bank Nederland, a now-defunct Dutch bank Radio, news and television organizat ...

* board member of

Alstom Alstom SA is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling, and locomotives, with products including the AGV, TGV, Eurostar, Avelia ...

* board member of

Assicurazioni Generali Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A. ( , ; meaning 'general insurances') or simply Generali Group is an Italian insurance company based in Trieste. As of 2019, it is the largest of its kind in Italy and among the top ten largest insurance companies in ...

* Member of Board of Overseers of

* Member of Board of Overseers of Fondazione Teatro La Scala * Member of International Advisory Council of

Political and economic views

Paolo Scaroni has never taken political positions supporting one particular party or coalition, and is considered as having excellent relationship and supporters across the political spectrum. When questioned on

energy transition The energy transition is the process of downshifting fossil fuels and re-developing whole systems to operate on low carbon energy sources. More generally, an energy transition is a significant structural change in an energy system regarding ...

and

sustainability Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livi ...

he has often stressed that renewables energy sources alone won't be sufficient to achieve the ambitious

CO2 Carbon dioxide (chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is transpar ...

reduction goals that

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

has set. According to Scaroni such goals can only be met if, in addition to the use of renewables, a strong emphasis is put on energy efficiency measures and a pervasive reengineering of industrial processes. He also is an advocate of the use of

nuclear energy Nuclear energy may refer to: *Nuclear power, the use of sustained nuclear fission or nuclear fusion to generate heat and electricity * Nuclear binding energy, the energy needed to fuse or split a nucleus of an atom *Nuclear potential energy ...

as a way to reduce CO2.

Honours

In 2004, Scaroni was decorated as

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 ...

. In November 2007 Scaroni was decorated as a member of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

Tangentopoli

In his career Paolo Scaroni has been involved in a few

judicial proceedings A legal case is in a general sense a dispute between opposing parties which may be resolved by a court, or by some equivalent legal process. A legal case is typically based on either civil or criminal law. In most legal cases there are one or mor ...

. As part of the massive "

Tangentopoli ''Mani pulite'' (; Italian for "clean hands") was a nationwide judicial investigation into political corruption in Italy held in the early 1990s, resulting in the demise of the so-called " First Republic" and the disappearance of many Italian ...

" scandal that brought down Italy's post-war political parties, in 1996, Scaroni was sentenced to one year and four months in prison (below the limit of execution of the sentence), and the offence was finally declared extinct by

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

tribunal in 2001. Subsequently in his roles as CEO of ENEL and ENI, he was involved in three judicial investigations (ENEL Porto Tolle, ENI/Saipem Algeria, ENI/Shell Nigeria) but, on those, he was definitively acquainted in 2017, 2020, and 2022 respectively.

References

External links

Biography of Paolo Scaroni (Eni Foundation's website)

Blog about Paolo Scaroni

Biography of Paolo Scaroni (Generali website)

Paolo Scaroni on Forbes

* ttp://www.30percento.it/la_nostra_efficienza/paolo-scaroni-curriculum-vitae.htm Biography of Paolo Scaroni (Eni 30percento's website)
Biography of Paolo Scaroni (eventi Eni's website)

Biography of Paolo Scaroni (Eni Scuola's website)

Biography of Paolo Scaroni (Eni award's website)

Human rights watch
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scaroni, Paolo Living people 1946 births Bocconi University alumni Eni Recipients of the Legion of Honour Columbia Business School alumni Italian chief executives McKinsey & Company people A.C. Milan directors A.C. Milan chairmen and investors