John Elkann

John Elkann

John Elkann, when FCA was first listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
Born John Philip Jacob Elkann
(1976-04-01) 1 April 1976
New York City, New York, US
Nationality Italian
Occupation Chairman, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles
Chairman and CEO, Exor
Religion Catholic[1]
Spouse(s) Lavinia Borromeo
Children Leone Elkann
Oceano Elkann
Vita Elkann
Parent(s) Margherita Agnelli de Pahlen and Alain Elkann
Relatives Gianni Agnelli grandfather
Edoardo Agnelli great-grandfather
Giovanni Agnelli (founder of Fiat) great-great-grandfather
Andrea Agnelli first cousin

John Philip Jacob Elkann (born 1 April 1976) is an Italian industrialist. He was the chosen heir of his grandfather Gianni Agnelli, and chairs and controls the automaker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (which owns the Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Fiat, Fiat Professional, Lancia, Maserati, Mopar and Ram brands).[2] He is the chairman and CEO of Exor, an investment company controlled by the Agnelli family, which controls CNH Industrial and Juventus F.C.. According to Fortune, he is the world's fourth most influential manager under the age of 40.[3]

Biography

Early life

Born in New York City, John Elkann is the first son of Alain Elkann, a journalist and writer of French Jewish and Italian Jewish background,[4] and his then wife Italian Margherita Agnelli. His parents divorced in 1981 and both have remarried. Elkann's maternal grandparents were the Italian socialite Marella Agnelli (born Donna Marella Caracciolo di Castagneto) and the industrialist Gianni Agnelli. His paternal great-grand-uncle was the banker Ettore Ovazza.

He has a brother, Lapo, and a sister, Ginevra, as well as five half-siblings from his mother’s second marriage, as Margherita Agnelli de Pahlen, to Serge de Pahlen. His younger half-siblings are: Maria (born 1983), Pierre (born 1986), twins Sophie and Anna (born 1988) and Tatiana (born 1990).[5][6][7]

Elkann attended primary school in the United Kingdom and in Brazil, before his family moved to Paris, France, where he obtained a baccalauréat scientifique at the State School Lycée Victor-Duruy in 1994. Later the same year, he moved to Italy to attend the Politecnico di Torino (Turin), where he graduated with a degree in management engineering in 2000. As a result of his international upbringing, he is fluent in four languages.[8]

Career

While pursuing his degree in Engineering, Elkann gained work experience through several internships: headlight plant in Birmingham, England (1996), production line in Tychy, Poland (1997), car dealership in Lille, France (1998) and also at GE's CIG (corporate initiatives group) where he worked on a thesis on e-auctions (1999). In December 1997, Elkann was selected by his grandfather Gianni Agnelli to take the place in the family business of Giovanni Alberto Agnelli, the son of Gianni’s younger brother, Umberto, who had died at the age of 33. He was appointed to the Fiat Board at the age of 21. In 2000, after graduating in Engineering from Politecnico di Torino, he joined General Electric’s Corporate Audit program. He left General Electric two years later.[9]

In 2003, he joined IFIL (now Exor) and worked on the turnaround of Fiat Group.

Elkann was instrumental in the appointment of current Fiat CEO, Sergio Marchionne, in May 2004.[10][11]

After the deaths of his grandfather Gianni Agnelli in 2003, and his great-uncle Umberto Agnelli in 2004, Elkann became vice chairman of Fiat and vice chairman of Giovanni Agnelli & C, the family partnership through which it controls EXOR. In 2010, he became chairman of Fiat S.p.A. (now Fiat Chrysler Automobiles), succeeding Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, and chairman of the Giovanni Agnelli e C. Sapaz, succeeding Gianluigi Gabetti. In February 2011, he was appointed chairman and CEO of EXOR.

He is also chairman of Editrice La Stampa, a board member of News Corp,[12] CNH Industrial, and The Economist Group.

In addition, he is an active member of various non-profit organizations and think-tanks engaged in the global geopolitical debate, including serving as vice chairman of the Italian Aspen Institute and the Giovanni Agnelli Foundation and as a member of the Brookings Institution[13] and MOMA.[14]

Personal life

Elkann was baptized and raised Catholic.[15] Elkann married Lavinia Borromeo (born Lavinia Ida Borromeo-Arese on 10 March 1977 in Milan, Italy) a member of the prominent Italian aristocratic family the House of Borromeo.[16][17] They married in a Roman Catholic ceremony in the Cappella Bianca on Isola Madre, one of the Borromean Islands of Lake Maggiore.[18]

They have three children. A son named Leone (Italian for lion) Mosé, was born on 27 August 2006.[19] On 11 November 2007,[20] Mrs. Elkann gave birth to the couple's second boy, Oceano (Italian for ocean) Noah. Their third child, a girl named Vita (Italian for life) Talita was born on 23 January 2012.[21][22] They were all born in Turin at S.Anna's Hospital.

Offices

Awards and honors

Ancestry

References

  1. ↑ "Jewish and Italian: Celebrity writer celebrates his heritage" Lubbock Avalanche Journal. Victor L. Simpson. December 04, 2004
  2. ↑ "Mass market brands". FCA Group.
  3. ↑ "40 under 40". Fortune. 30 September 2013.
  4. ↑ Jewish Telegraph Agency: "Noted Italian writer appeals for Israel" By Ruth Ellen Gruber June 13, 2010
  5. ↑ "Margherita Agnelli, * 1955". Geneall.net. Retrieved 2015-10-02.
  6. ↑ "Person Page 16329". Thepeerage.com. Retrieved 2015-10-02.
  7. ↑ "Edoardo Agnelli b. 2 Jan 1892 Verona d. 1935: Geneagraphie - Families all over the world". Geneagraphie. Retrieved 2015-10-02.
  8. ↑ "Unlikely heir who saved the family jewels". Financial Times. 2 March 2011.(registration required)
  9. ↑ "Elkann nel Cda Fiat a 22 anni". La Repubblica. 8 July 2013.
  10. ↑ "John Elkann: Fiat's fresh face". Fortune. 30 May 2004.
  11. ↑ "Forbes Insights Names Top Five Notable Achievers Among European Industrialists With Long-Lived Fortunes". Forbes. 29 April 2014.
  12. ↑ "News Corporation Board of Directors Approves Separation of Businesses". Wall Street Journal. 24 May 2013.
  13. ↑ "International Advisory Council". Brookings Institution. 2013.
  14. ↑ "Cultural Boards Get Younger Look". Wall Street Journal. 1 November 2010.
  15. ↑ "Jewish and Italian: Celebrity writer celebrates his heritage" Lubbock Avalanche Journal. Victor L. Simpson. December 04, 2004
  16. ↑ "Lavinia Borromeo". Cinquantamila.corriere.it. Retrieved 2015-10-02.
  17. ↑ "Lavinia Ida Borromeo-Arese, * 1977". Geneall.net. Retrieved 2015-10-02.
  18. ↑ The Wedding of the Decade | Italian Lakes Wedding Planner. Italianlakeswedding.com. Retrieved on 2013-08-24 | Father Biagio Pizzi and Don Giuseppe Volpati presided over the ceremony. The church was adorned with white and yellow flowers.
  19. ↑ "E' nato Leone, figlio di Jaki e Lavinia Inizia la sesta generazione Agnelli". La Repubblica (in Italian). 27 August 2006. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
  20. ↑ "È nato Oceano Elkann". Il Corriere della Sera (in Italian). 12 November 2007. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
  21. ↑ "È nata Vita, la terza figlia di John Elkann". Corriere della Sera. 24 January 2012.
  22. ↑ "E' nata Vita la terzogenita di casa Elkann". La Stampa (in Italian). 25 January 2012. Retrieved 28 September 2013.

Further reading

External links

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