Gilberto Benetton | |
---|---|
Born |
Treviso, Italy | 19 June 1941
Died | 22 October 2018 Treviso, Italy | (aged 77)
Occupation | Co-founder of Benetton Group |
Spouse | Lalla Benetton |
Children | 2 daughters |
Relatives |
Luciano Benetton (brother) Carlo Benetton (brother) Giuliana Benetton (sister) Alessandro Benetton (nephew) |
Gilberto Benetton (19 June 1941 – 22 October 2018) [1] was an Italian billionaire businessman, one of Europe's most influential industrialists. [2] He was a co-founder of Benetton Group, the Italian fashion brand which he started and ran with his three siblings. [2] In October 2018, Forbes estimated the net worth of Gilberto Benetton, and each of his siblings, at US$2.7 billion. [3] In June 2018, the conglomerate he created had assets of €12.1 billion. [2]
Benetton left school at 14, after his father died, and worked at local firms until starting United Colours of Benetton with his siblings in 1965. [2] The company initially made clothing on a homemade production line in Ponzano Veneto near Venice. [4] The company became well known for its brightly colored clothing. [5] By the 1980s the company was distributing in 100 countries, and the Benetton family had become billionaires. [2]
After his family company's success in the 1980s, Benetton diversified into infrastructure, including roads, telecom, catering, and agriculture. [6] [2] He acquired Autogrill, a motorway food service company. [2] Then Atlantia, the owner of Autostrade with contracts in road and airport construction. [2] He also acquired stakes in Telecom Italia, Mediobanca, Pirelli, and RCS Mediagroup. [2] In 2018 he organized the acquisition of Abertis, a motorway group from Spanish building firm ACS. [7]
The Benetton Group was controversial for its ads, which often went against the social norms of the time. [4] [8] The ads challenged social taboos such as sexuality, war, racism, and AIDS. [9] In 2011 the company pulled an ad featuring a photoshopped image of the Pope kissing a prominent Islamic cleric after the Vatican complained. [10] [11] The company became one of the world's largest retail groups, with 5000 stores in 120 companies. [9] However, since 2000 it has seen dwindling sales. [6]
Originally, each of the four Benetton siblings had an equal quarter share of Edizione. [12] Benetton was the former chairman of Edizione, the family's holding company which controls Atlantia. [8] He was vice-president of Edizione when he died. [4] He was the former chairman of one of their key investments, Autogrill highway and airport restaurants, [13] and at his death he was vice-president. [4]
He was the only family member on the Atlantia board. He faced a crisis in August 2018 when the Genoa bridge collapse killed 43 people, a unit of Atlantia was the bridge operator. [14] There were claims the weakness in the bridge was known in advance, and that the disaster was avoidable. [15] The holding company Edizione lost €2 billion in value after the incident. [16] [12]
In the years leading up to his death, Benetton had brought non-family member Marco Patuano in to run the Edizione company he had previously been head of, and indicated it should operate like a sovereign wealth fund. [17] It is expected that he will be succeeded in his board role by Gilberto's daughter Sabrina. [12] [16]
Benetton was married to Lalla, they had two daughters, Barbara and Sabrina, and lived in Treviso, Italy. [3] [13]
He was inducted into the Italian Basketball Hall of Fame, in 2012. [18] This was due to his contribution to the sport of Italian basketball, while he was the owner of the Italian professional basketball club Treviso Basket. [18] He started sponsoring the club in 1978, [19] bought the club in 1980, [18] and had financed the club from his business career. [2] He also sponsored rugby and volleyball clubs in Treviso. [19] The Benetton's sold out of the basketball and volleyball clubs in 2012. [19] The Benetton family is now only focused on the rugby club. [12]
Italian newspapers had reported that Benetton's health started to decline after the Genoa bridge disaster and the death of his brother Carlo in July. [2] He died aged 77, on 22 October 2018, at his home in Treviso, Italy. [13] [20] A statement from the Benetton Group said "His wife Lalla, daughters Barbara and Sabrina and son-in-law Ermanno were with him in his final moments". [6]