John Philip Jacob Elkann (born 1 April 1976) is an Italian industrialist. In 1997, he became the chosen heir of his maternal grandfatherGianni Agnelli, following the death of Gianni's nephewGiovanni Alberto Agnelli, and since 2004 has been leading theAgnelli family, an Italian multi-industry business dynasty.[1] The family has been compared to the US political family of theKennedys.[2]
Born in New York City on 1 April 1976,[6] Elkann held both Italian and American citizenship; he renounced the latter in 2012.[7] He is the eldest son ofAlain Elkann, a New York-born journalist and writer ofFrench-Jewish (the Elkann surname comes from Montbéliard in France where his paternal grandfather was from) andItalian-Jewish background,[8] and his then Italian wifeMargherita Agnelli.[9][10] His parents divorced in 1981 and both have remarried.[11][12] Elkann's maternal grandparents were the head ofFiat S.p.A.,Gianni Agnelli,[13] and the socialiteMarella Agnelli (bornDonna MarellaCaracciolo di Castagneto); his great-grandfather was the industrialistEdoardo Agnelli, and his great-great-grandfather wasGiovanni Agnelli, founder ofFiat S.p.A.[14] His paternal great-grand-uncle was the bankerEttore Ovazza.[15] He has a brother,Lapo Elkann, and a sister,Ginevra Elkann,[16] 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).[17][18]
Elkann attended primary school in both the United Kingdom and Brazil,[19] before his family moved to Paris,[20] where he obtained abaccalauréat scientifique at the State SchoolLycée Victor-Duruy in 1994.[21][22][23] Later that same year, he moved to Italy to attend thePolytechnic University of Turin, where he graduated with a degree in management engineering in 2000;[24][25] his thesis was entirely dedicated toe-commerce and onlineauctions.[25] Among the people who have influenced his education and career, supporting him in his professional journey from a young age, John Elkann has citedGianluigi Gabetti,Sergio Marchionne,Warren Buffett, and theWallenberg family.[26] As a result of his international upbringing, he is fluent in four languages: Italian, English, French, and Portuguese.[27]
While pursuing a degree inengineering, Elkann gained work experience through several internships. They included a headlight plant inBirmingham, England (1996); a production line inTychy, Poland (1997); a car dealership inLille, France (1998); and atGeneral Electric's corporate initiatives group where he worked on a thesis on e-auctions (1999).[28][29] In December 1997, at the age of 21,[25][30] he was selected as the heir of his grandfatherGianni Agnelli in place ofGiovanni Alberto Agnelli, the son of Gianni's younger brother,Umberto Agnelli,[25] who had died at the age of 33.[31][32] He was appointed to theFiat S.p.A. board that same year,[33][34][35] when he was 22, the same age his grandfather Gianni also joined it in 1943,[28] and to the board of Giovanni Agnelli Sapaz (now Giovanni Agnelli B.V.), the family partnership controllingExor.[28][29]
In 2000, after graduating in Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Turin, he joined General Electric's Corporate Audit program. He left General Electric two years later;[28] Elkann described his work at General Electric as "a beautiful experience, because you sit around a table where no one speaks your language and two out of three come from another continent."[25] He moved back to Turin to be closer to his ageing grandfather, as well as to the family business.[36] In 2003, Elkann joined IFIL, which later became Exor,[37] where he was in charge of control and development, and was in particular responsible for supervising Rinascente and Alpitour.[25] Elkann worked on the turnaround ofFiat Group. He was instrumental in the appointment ofFiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) CEOSergio Marchionne in May 2004.[38][39]
After the death of Gianni in 2003,[40][41] which was followed by that of Elkann's great-uncleUmberto Agnelli in 2004,[42] Elkann became vice-chairman of Fiat and vice-chairman of Giovanni Agnelli Sapaz.[28][29]Franzo Grande Stevens andGianluigi Gabetti were instrumental in the appointment of Elkann.[43] In 2008, Elkann was seen as "the great unknown",[44] and he replaced 83-year-old Gabetti as the head of IFIL, which managed a portfolio worth eight billion euros.[45] In March 2009, he merged the holding companies IFI and IFIL to create Exor, stepping to the role of chairman.[46] In 2010, he became chairman of Fiat S.p.A. (then FCA), succeedingLuca Cordero di Montezemolo, and chairman of the Giovanni Agnelli Sapaz, succeeding Gabetti;[47][48] at the time, Fiat had changed four CEOs in three years.[1] Before this appointment, he mainly played a background role at Fiat.[49]The Financial Times called Elkann's appointment "a confirmation of change that could prove to be the making of a new Fiat and also of the Agnelli family's future fortunes."[50][51]
In February 2011, Elkann was appointed chairman and CEO of Exor.[52] The value of the company's assets has grown and multiplied nine times in ten years.[53] Since 2017, Elkann became chairman ofFerrari,[54]GEDI Gruppo Editoriale,[55] and theGiovanni Agnelli Foundation [it], a philanthropic institution supporting education.[56] He is an active member of several non-profit organizations and think tanks engaged in the global geopolitical debate, one of the founders of theCollège des Ingénieurs Italia,[57] and a trustee of theMuseum of Modern Art.[29] A member of theConfindustria presidential committee, he followed Fiat's decision to leave the group and resigned from his role as vice-chairman in October 2011,[58][59] three months before Fiat's official departure in January 2012,[60][61][62] "in the interests of the Association's autonomy and independence",[63][64] as written in his resignation letter to then-presidentEmma Marcegaglia.[65] In a 2013 interview to theDetroit Free Press, Elkann identifiedBill Ford Jr. as a mentor.[66] That same year, he was included byFortune in the world's most influential managers under the age of 40.[67]
In a November 2013 interview toCampden FB, Elkann said he wanted to changecapitalism. He said: "There is an alternative to financial investors and professional investment managers, and that's what we want to be. You need to be able to portray business to society in a favourable way. All the emphasis has been on shareholder value, not stakeholder value. One of the benefits of family businesses is they focus on all stakeholders."[68] Guido Corbetta, a professor atBocconi University in Milan and a family business expert, said that one of the biggest achievements at Exor was the management of the succession to Elkann from his grandfather. Corbetta said: "He was dominant. Anyone succeeding him would have huge shoes to fill. But the fact that Elkann has done so and managed to beat his own path, distancing himself a lot from his grandfather's particular style of running businesses and being successful, is a great achievement for Fiat, the Agnelli family, and even more so Elkann."[69] In 2015, Elkann acquired the insurer company PartnerRe[19] and took part at Ferrari’s debut as a listed company in stock exchange in Wall Street.[70][71]
In July 2018, a few days before the death of Marchionne, Elkann was chosen to take his place at Ferrari.[76] In 2019, Elkann announced he would be trying to merge FCA with Peugeot S.A. (PSA Group), with the goal of forming the world's fourth largest OEM by volume and third largest by revenues, and catch up onelectric cars, as well asautonomous vehicles.[77] In May 2019, he tried to also enlistRenault.[78][79] In December 2019, it was announced that FCA and Peugeot had reached an agreement to merge.[80] In July 2020, he and FCA's CEO Mike Manley announced that the name of the combined company would beStellantis.[81][82]
In March 2020, Elkann and FCA's board of directors agreed to forego their remaining compensation for 2020 due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[83][84][85] Between December 2020 and September 2021, following the resignation ofLouis Camilleri, he held the position ofCEO of Ferrari until the appointment ofBenedetto Vigna.[86][87][88] In May 2021, Elkann was nominated Knight of theOrder of Merit for Labour in the automotive industry by Italy's presidentSergio Mattarella.[89] In 2021,Forbes estimated his net worth to be around US$2 billion.[90]
In two January 2023 interviews toLa Repubblica andLa Stampa,[91] in remembrance of the twenty years since Gianni's death,[92][93] Elkann said: "If we compare the company in 2003 and today's we see that revenues go from 22 billion to 130 in the first nine months of 2022 alone; there were 22 car models produced then, which employed 49,000 people, for 4 brands: today 280,000 people produce over 100 models for 14 brands. We have enhanced the Fiat brand, so much so that next year theelectric 500 will also be exported to the USA. We have relaunched theMaserati andAlfa Romeo brands and we are relaunchingLancia. Furthermore, today we produce in Italy and sell models of highly successful non-Italian brands, such asJeep, all over the world."[94] On 15 May 2023 he announced as a founder the launch of Lingotto, an investment management company fully owned by Exor and headquartered in London.[95]
As Executive Chairman ofFerrari, Elkann has a controlling interest in theauto racing teamScuderia Ferrari, which most notably competes inFormula One as a constructor[101] and at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where it returned as a protagonist in 2023, winning the centenary edition of the race after a fifty-year period of absence as a car manufacturer,[102] and achieving the same result the following year.[103]
Elkann supports various philanthropic activities. He is chairman of the Agnelli Foundation, a non-profit organization supporting education through scientific research and initiatives.
Since 2014, Fondazione Agnelli has offered Italian students and their families a free online portal where they can find which secondary schools in their area provide the best preparation for university and the workplace.[104] Together with Compagnia di San Paolo through Fondazione Agnelli he launched Torino fa scuola, a project dedicated to the renovation of school buildings in the city area.[105]
Starting from July 2020, Elkann supported the launch and expansion of the Arcipelago Educativo project, co-designed and promoted by the Agnelli Foundation, Exor, andSave the Children to fight the risk of dropping out of students due to the lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.[106]
In April 2019, along withCERN's Director-GeneralFabiola Gianotti and the Italian architectRenzo Piano, Elkann participated in a media event to unveil Science Gateway, a new scientific education and outreach centre of CERN, which aims to share knowledge and technology for free with society.[107] The project was funded through external donations, through the Stellantis Foundation as the main supporter.[108] On 21 June 2021 he celebrated a further step forward with the laying of the first stone, and then attended the official inauguration in October 2023, where he rememberedSergio Marchionne, to whom the auditorium of the structure is dedicated.[109][110]
In May 2019, Elkann took part to the 28th edition of thepartita del cuore [it] to raise funds for the Piedmontese Foundation for Cancer Research and Italy'sTelethon Foundation.[111][112] In March 2020, to help Italian citizens suffering from the consequences of theCOVID-19 pandemic, as the leader of the Agnelli family he deliberated a €10 million donation to the nationalCivil Protection Department and to La Stampa Foundation – Specchio dei tempi, a social assistance organization that operates inPiedmont, to respond to the local health and social needs in the city ofTurin and Piedmont.[113] Elkann and his wife Lavinia are also among the supporters of Crescere Insieme al Sant'Anna, a philanthropic project aiming at expanding and improving the neonatal intensive care unit of the main public pedriatic hospital of Turin.[114] On 9 May 2016, the first neonatal intensive care unit was inaugurated.[115]
An engineer by training, he declares himself passionate about technology and pursues interests in this field. Since 2009, Elkann has been attending the annual media and tech conference organized in July every year by Allen & Co atSun Valley, Idaho.[129] He is also a regular contributor to the Google Camp,[72] which every year gathers tech entrepreneurs, investors, representatives of institutions and pop stars inSciacca,Agrigento, and other places aroundSicily.[130] In August 2011, he took part, along withSergio Marchionne, in theRimini Meeting organized byCommunion and Liberation.[131] Until 2020, he was a member of the boardBilderberg Group and the only Italian other than journalistLilli Gruber. In 2012, Elkann attended the annual meeting of the Bilderberg Group inChantilly, Virginia.[132][133]
In February 2018, Elkann appeared as one of the protagonists on the podcast series byReid Hoffman,Masters of Scale.[36] During the interview, which was focused on the theme of the need for companies to adapt over the decades, Elkann described the conditions that allow a company to last over the centuries through the metaphor of the phoenix, and cited in particular the case ofFiat from the 2004 crisis to the creation of theFiat Chrysler group.[134] In June 2018, he invited Hoffman,Xavier Niel,Peter Thiel, and other global tech leaders to the SEI Torino Forum for the international launch of the new School of Entrepreneurship and Innovation of Turin,[135] an initiative supported by the Agnelli Foundation helping university level students to start new businesses; it opened on 21 March 2018.[136][137] In 2019 he personally supported throughExor andGedi Gruppo editoriale the birth of the Italian Tech Week, an Italian tech event[138] that during the years had guests likeElon Musk[139][140] andStripe founderPatrick Collison.[141] In September 2023 edition of the event he directly interviewedAirbnb CEOBrian Chesky.[142] In February 2021, he was a guest on theItalian Tech Speak podcast, where he described his relationship with technology and innovation.[143]
In December 2021, he was included inBloomberg's list of the "50 most influential people and ideas that defined global business in 2021" for the merger of FCA with the PSA Group to formStellantis, which started its trading with a $52.7 billion market value.[144]
Through Exor Ventures (formerly known as Exor Seeds), an investment program dedicated to startups, he has invested over 500 million euros in innovation and entrepreneurship projects since 2018. Starting from 2022, through Vento, he is launching venture building calls specifically aimed at young entrepreneurs.[145]
In 2013, Elkann participated in theTranspac Race fromLos Angeles toHonolulu where he and Soldini ranked second.[169] In the 2014 edition ofCape2Rio, which goes fromCape Town toRio de Janeiro, Elkann was a member of the team of Soldini that won and set the new speed record of theregatta.[170] In January 2015, he took part with Soldini in the Maserati team in the Rorc Caribbean 600 Race, a regatta that has been held since February throughout theCaribbean; the team had to retire due to damage to the hydraulic system.[171] Soldini stated that a newSan Francisco–Shanghai record attempt with the Maserati was expected in May 2015.[172] They succeeded in doing so at 21 days, 19 hours, 32 minutes, and 54 seconds.[173]
In May 2016, Elkann took part in the 100th edition of theTarga Florio car race inPalermo.[174][175] In January 2020, he participated in the 16th edition of the Cape2Rio aboard Soldini's VOR70 Maserati, sailing 3.600 miles from Cape Town to Rio de Janeiro.[176][177] In October 2020, once again aboard with Soldini, he conquered the first position at the 41st edition of the Rolex Middle Sea Race with the Maserati Multi 70.[178][179] In August 2021, he kicked off the 89th edition of the24 Hours of Le Mans, which saw the participation of the newLe Mans Hypercar, a class in which Ferrari would enter starting from 2023.[180]
^"The Wedding of the Decade".Italian Lakes Wedding Planner. 23 July 2008. Retrieved24 February 2023.Father Biagio Pizzi and Don Giuseppe Volpati presided over the ceremony. The church was adorned with white and yellow flowers.
^"SEI Torino Forum 2018 – First part". School of Entrepreneurship and Innovation. 8 June 2018.Archived from the original on 22 December 2021. Retrieved24 February 2023 – via YouTube.
^Heyman, Marshall (23 September 2010)."A Gathering of Global Leaders".The Wall Street Journal.ISSN0099-9660. Retrieved6 March 2023.Meanwhile, John Elkann, the young and dashing chairman of the Fiat Group, received an Appeal of Conscience Award 'for his contribution to international and intercultural cooperation, and humanitarian endeavors.'
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Nominated Knight of theOrder of Merit for Labour in the Italian automotive industry, May 2021.[5]
