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.

He served as a CEO of Italian carmaker Fiat from 1970 to 1976 and, on the death of his brother Gianni, was briefly chairman of the FIAT Group, 2003–2004, until his own death, aged 69, the following year. He was also chairman and of Juventus, the football team long-associated with FIAT and the Agnelli family, and was for a time the president of the Italian Football Association.
He was a senator from 1976 to 1979. In 2015, he was posthumously inducted into the Italian Football Hall of Fame.

Career

Agnelli was chairman of Juventus Football Club between 1956–61 and was honorary chairman from 1970–2004.

Agnelli was chairman of Fiat France 1965–80, chief executive officer of Fiat SpA 1970–76 and vice-president 1976–93. He was chairman of Fiat Auto 1980–90 and a member of International Advisory Board 1993–2004.

Though he was a senior executive in the family company, Fiat, he was sidelined from taking a leadership role by his brother Gianni until the latter's death in 2003. Only then did he take over as chairman of the whole Fiat Group, 2003–2004. The Group controlled several Italian newspapers and publishers in addition to the FIAT car-firms and Juventus.

Umberto was in the process of restoring Fiat's fortunes, following a period in which the company's balance sheet, market share and share value had all been in decline, when he suddenly died of lung cancer after 18 months in control. Despite this, ''Forbes'' magazine estimated he was the world's 68th richest man with an approximate net worth of US$5.5 billion. He was a member of the Steering Committee of the Bilderberg Group.

Family

Agnelli was born in Lausanne, Switzerland, the youngest of seven children. His life was beset by an unusual amount of tragedy and bereavement. His father Edoardo Agnelli perished in an air crash when he was one year old, and his mother Virginia died in a car accident ten years later when he was just 11 years old.

In 1959 Agnelli married the heiress ''Donna'' Antonella Bechi Piaggio, from the well-known business-family of Piaggio. They had three sons but their first, twin boys, died shortly after birth. The third son, Giovanni Alberto Agnelli, grew up to be the head of the maternal family-firm Piaggio, and was being groomed to succeed at Fiat, but died of cancer at the age of 33 in 1997.

Umberto and Antonella Agnelli later divorced, and in 1974 Umberto married ''Donna'' Allegra Caracciolo di Castagneto. Allegra is the first cousin of Umberto's sister in law Marella Caracciolo di Castagneto, the wife of his brother Giovanni (Gianni). The ladies come from the old Neapolitan noble family that has, among other, the titles of nobility of Prince of Castagneto and Duke of Melito.

Umberto and Allegra had two children: Andrea (born 1975) and Anna (born 1977). Andrea later followed in his father's footsteps by becoming chairman of Juventus, in 2010.

References

Further reading

* Marco Ferrante, ''Casa Agnelli'', Mondadori, 2007,
* Giancarlo Galli, ''Gli Agnelli, il tramonto di una dinastia'', Mondadori, Edizione 2003,
* Alan Friedman, ''Agnelli and the network of italian power'', Mandarin Paperback (Octopus Publishing Gr.), London, 1988,
* Angiolo Silvio Ori, ''Storia di una dinastia – Gli Agnelli e la Fiat'', Editori Riuniti, Roma, 1996

External links

Forbes Rich List entry

Obituary

{{DEFAULTSORT:Agnelli, Umberto
1934 births
2004 deaths
Umberto
Deaths from cancer in Piedmont
Deaths from lymphoma
Fiat people
Italian automotive pioneers
Italian billionaires
Members of the Steering Committee of the Bilderberg Group
People from Lausanne
Nobility from Turin
Juventus F.C. chairmen and investors
Bourbon del Monte family
Automotive businesspeople
Businesspeople from Turin
Politicians from Turin