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June 20 - June 27, 2004 |
FIAT Chooses Italian-Canadian CEO
Sergio Marchionne replaces Giuseppe Morchio as one of Europe's top heads of industry
Originally Published: 2004-06-06
FIAT CEO Giuseppe Morchio will be replaced by Italian-Canadian Sergio Marchionne, member of FIAT's board of directors and CEO of SGS, the Swiss leading company in certification.
The choice was made official at the first meeting of the board chaired by Luca Cordero di Montezemolo. The name was a surprise, as it had not been included in the group of potential appointees circulating in the past days (Bernabé, Profumo, Guerra, Demel). This choice has fallen on a man well known to Gianluigi Gabetti, the 80-years-old trusted advisor of the Agnelli family who has now become the chairman of the control company of the whole group.
Since February 2002, 52-year-old Marchionne has been the CEO of Societé Generale de Surveillance, the quality certification colossus floating on the Swiss stock exchange, which is a star in the constellation of companies under Gabetti's control. Gabetti was therefore able to assess Marchionne's professional profile in regards to both industry and finance. Apparently, Marchionne prevailed over another manager well known to Gabetti, Mario Garraffo, at the helm of the Italian operation of General Electric Capital, and formerly head of the Agnelli financial arm in New York. The wound inflicted by Giuseppe Morchio's sudden and unforeseen resignation has therefore been promptly healed, with a solution that was welcomed by the major banks which FIAT is indebted to.
"I talked to the president of Banco San Paolo, Enrico Salza," said Turin mayor Sergio Chiamparino. "Although he did not name names, he told me that the group was oriented towards a high-profile choice."
The CEO from Toronto will have a hard task, but one made easier by the work done over the last two years by the Barberis-Boschetti duo first, and Morchio thereafter.
Umberto Agnelli Passes Away
Like his son, Giovanni's brother succumbs to cancer
Umberto Agnelli's condition worsened in the final couple of days. The cancer that he had been battling was simply unstoppable, and so FIAT Chairman, known as "the Doctor", passed away last Thursday evening.
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