John Philip Jacob Elkann, born on April 1, 1976, in New York, is an American-Italian business magnate. The grandson of Gianni Agnelli, he inherited the Fiat automotive group, which under his chairmanship, evolved into Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and later transformed into Stellantis in January 2021 following the merger with PSA Group.
He currently serves as the Chairman of the Stellantis group, Ferrari, and its sporting ventures and holds the CEO position at Exor, the Agnelli family’s investment holding.
Exor stands as one of Europe’s most significant investment entities. It also has major stakes in Turin’s Juventus FC football team and is the principal shareholder of The Economist.
In 2013, Fortune hailed him as one of the world’s most influential leaders under 40.
He attended the elite Bilderberg Group meetings from 2014 through 2017.
To commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Italian daily La Stampa, acquired by the Agnelli family in 1926, he orchestrated “The Future of Newspapers” in June 2017. This international conference featured Jeff Bezos (The Washington Post), Lionel Barber (The Financial Times), Tsuneo Kita (Nikkei), and other media luminaries.
In February 2018, Elkann notably appeared as a featured guest on the Master of Scale podcast, hosted by Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn. Throughout this engaging interview, he insightfully discussed the enduring nature of successful businesses, employing the “phoenix” metaphor for illustration.
Furthermore, he meticulously detailed Fiat’s transformative journey, initially from its 2004 crisis, subsequently navigating through various challenges, and ultimately culminating in the remarkable inception of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.
John Elkann : From Ferrari F1 Chair to Leading Global Innovation
In June 2018, he hosted global tech leaders like Peter Thiel and Reid Hoffman at the SEI Torino Forum to launch Turin’s new school for entrepreneurship and innovation, supported by the Agnelli Foundation to assist university-level students in founding new companies.
Following Sergio Marchionne’s passing, he became the Chairman of Ferrari and the Scuderia’s Formula 1 boss in September 2018.
Under Elkann’s leadership in 2019, Exor acquired a majority stake in GEDI Gruppo Editoriale from the CIR group for €102.5 million.
April 2019, alongside CERN’s General Director Fabiola Gianotti and architect Renzo Piano, he unveiled the Science Gateway project, a new hub for scientific education and communication at CERN, aimed at disseminating research and technology to the public.
March 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Elkann and the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles board agreed to forego their remaining compensation for the year.
In May 2021, President Sergio Mattarella honored Elkann with the Knight of the Order of Merit for Labor in the automotive industry.
Moreover, he meticulously chronicled Fiat’s transformative odyssey, commencing with its 2004 crisis, then progressively overcoming a series of challenges, and finally culminating in the extraordinary establishment of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.
John Elkann Ferrari F1 John Elkann Ferrari F1
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