Luca di Montezemolo (69) is one of the most powerful and important Italian people. He has organised the 1990 football World Cup in Italy, founded the first European high-speed train company, and was the President of Ferrari, Fiat and Alitalia. Currently, he is a member of the board of directors for several companies – amongst them, the largest Italian bank Unicredit. BLICK met di Montezemolo at his manor, close to Bologna in Tuscany.
Mr di Montezemolo, which do you prefer: cars, trains, airplanes or banks?
My blood is in industry, I am not a banker. I am on the board of Unicredit because my friends in Abu Dhabi are big shareholders and asked me to represent them. It is a good experience, but it is not my passion. This is different with products that are about speed and clients. So I would say cars and trains are number one.
You led Ferrari for 23 years as CEO and Chairman. What does Mister Ferrari think of the company today? Is CEO Sergio Marchionne doing a good job?
When I left Ferrari in 2014 , there were a lot of polemics. I don’t want to subject Marchionne to a public tribune. I know how that feels. But what is certain is that the company is different today. When a company goes public, it needs to satisfy the shareholders’ interest – this means it needs to increase revenue and volumes. Ferrari produces more, but it is necessary to preserve the exclusivity and the value of the classic cars. What makes me happy is that Ferrari is – after three years – again at the top of the Formula One.
Michael Schumacher had his first Formula One victory with you as team leader.
Always, when I think of the Ferrari drivers, I miss Michael. He has been in this house so many times. He was here for my wedding and he visited many times, spending time with me and my children. I know his son Mick since he was not even a year old. Michael’s life and my own have been connected for so long. He is really in my heart and always on my mind.
Ferrari-CEO Marchionne is living part-time in Switzerland. Have you ever thought of moving here?
No, I am happily living in Italy. I love my country. I am Italian and I am the greatest promoter of, “Made in Italy”. I love Switzerland but I never thought to leave my country and to live abroad. And obviously I pay my taxes in Italy.
But you have been to Switzerland many times.
When I organized the 1990 World Championship in Italy, I was in Zurich several times to speak with FIFA. When I was CEO of Cinzano drinks, I was working in Geneva a lot. And I visited Zurich many times during this period as well. I always liked the lake, with its parks and many places to go cycling or for a walk.
Since spring you are on the board of directors of the Management Renova AG in Zurich. What are you doing at the shores of Lake Zurich?
Actually, and until now, the meetings of the board have been in other European cities. The last time I was in Zurich was four years ago, when I met with Joe Ackermann, who I know for more than 10 years now. We were eating in a strange restaurant.
Ackermann was – like you – called to the board of directors by the president Viktor Vekselberg. What is your connection with Mr Vekselberg?
I know Mr Vekselberg for more than 15 years. He is a very good businessman and a friend of mine. He was one of the first people to invest, along with others, in my private equity fund called ‹Charme›. Last year he asked me, whether I wanted to join the board of Renova. I asked him who was there as well, and as he said Joe Ackermann and so I decided to join.
What expertise can you bring to the board?
I am an industrial person, industry is my blood. I am happy to give my advice in this field
So the state of the once very proud Italian car industry must make your blood run cold.
The Italian car industry makes me sad. Lancia is more or less finished. Maserati is a very good brand but has low numbers of cars produced. Alfa Romeo is still a question mark with regards to the business plan but I’m very confident in its first SUV. And Fiat Chrysler is admittedly a strong group. But its head quarters is in Detroit and its European legal base was transferred to the Netherlands for fiscal reasons. taly is mainly a production center for Fiat, -like Poland or Brazil. Fiat is not an Italian company anymore, but a strong international group.
All in all Italy’s economy is not prospering like other countries. In 2008, the youth unemployment rate was half of what it is today, the debts are high and growth is slow. What did Italy do wrong?
The big mistakes were not having cut regulations for enterprises, and a lack of fiscal strategies for entrepreneurs. But I am still very optimistic because I think that this country has huge potential. Our problem is that Italy does not have a culture of competition. We have to inject that sense of competition into our children already in schools. Like in the USA. Yet at the same time, we really need team spirit.
But team spirit and competitive attitude are in contradiction to each other.
No. We don’t need to be competitive with each other. Competition means less costs for the citizen and better service. And team spirit means , we (as) Italians are too individualistic. We have so much excellence, but we need to put it all together. We have to have an agenda for more competitiveness which has to be shared by all politicians. We need less bureaucracy and less taxes for enterprises.
That’s something any liberal in any country would say. What steps exactly does Italy have to take?
We need to get rid of the corruption. Break up monopolies of state-owned companies that don’t care about service and costs – for example, in public transportation. We need to give fiscal incentives to companies to invest and attract foreign investments. And we need to define a strategy for our tourism. Italy is like a car you want to win a race with: It needs to be powerful, easy to drive and light. Furthermore, it needs to get on-track and in-line with its characteristics - and it needs a good driver.
Many Italians always wanted to see you behind the steering wheel of the country. Why did you never enter politics?
I was very close to entering the political arena four years ago. Many people pushed me. The chances were 50-50. My wife was against the idea. At the time I was so involved with Ferrari, which is after my family, the most important piece of my life. To leave Ferrari and to enter politics against the will of my family was difficult. Then Mario Monti decided to enter and that was the reason I avoided becoming a politician myself. But if we had had the same situation as it is today, my decision maybe would have been different: I might be a politician now. But in retrospective it was the right decision. I can also do something for my country without being a professional politician.
You’re alluding to the rise of Forza Italia, Silvio Berlusconi’s party. Not long ago in an interview Berlusconi was asked, who he would like to have in his government, he said: Montezemolo as foreign minister. What did you think? You’re known for being best enemies.
Starts smiling. We used to argue but we had a good personal relationship.
What about the other political forces?
Matteo Renzi was a big hope – but managing a city like Florence and running a whole country are vastly different. And now I think that people have begun to understand that the Cinque Stelle movement is good at saying “Vaffanculo!” – but that is not sufficient to manage and govern as you can tell by the management of Rome which is a disaster. They have no elites that are good at leading - they have no professional people.
Cinque Stelle is just one example of the populist movement in Europe. What is your view on the state of the European Union?
It is important that Macron won with a campaign based on Europe. And at the end of the day, it is important that a lot of French were scared to vote for Le Pen. I hope Merkel will stay to provide stability. But one problem remains. In Italy, as in the rest of Europe, the distance between the citizens and the politicians is growing. Italy needs Europe and Europe needs Italy.
You yourself are part of the elite bubble!
That is right. But I have a lot of social attention in my blood. When you are elite, you have more social responsibility to the people and you have to remain close to them and serve as a good example. You know, I won 19 titles with Ferrari in the Formula One. But one of my best days at Ferrari was, when we won the trophy from the “Financial Times” for the best place to work in Europe.
How much of your success is due to your nobility? Did the “di” of your Surname open up some doors?
I have always worked hard. Even if you have a good car, you still have to push the accelerator. So, it is really hard to tell. But you always have to gather people around you that are more competent than you. If you have happy and good people, then you can be successful.
You wanted to fire people when you were chairman at Alitalia. But the workers refused your cost cutting package. Did you understand them?
When the workers said ‹no›, in my opinion, they only hurt themselves. They decided to fire themselves. Because the banks and the investor, Etihad, said that they would not invest without an agreement. And the government remains alone. So the company’s future is much more uncertain than with a reformed program. It may get sold to a company abroad. I hope Alitalia will survive.
But for the workers this was a choice between the devil and the deep blue sea!
No. The agreement included fresh money from the banks, more investments from a very important foreign investor like Abu Dhabi and the promise from the government to give more money. But we needed more efficiency, and more productivity. At the end of the day, 900 workers out of 12’000 would have lost their jobs. Some people would have had salary cuts at around 8 percent. But if we had achieved the goals within two years, they would have gotten back their normal salary. All the people, together, could have improved productivity. It was necessary to take one step back today, to be able to take two steps forward tomorrow.
You also made a decision and stepped down as chairman.
Already in November 2016. But the Italian Banks and the people at Etihad asked me to stay longer. But it was a mistake to stay. I was chairman without executive competences – thus without power. I want to be operative chairman. I would like to hire you or to fire you if I want, or to open or close production if I choose.
Now you are sitting on several boards. Soon you will be 70. The Italian man retires, on average, at 66 years old. When will you lean back?
Don’t forget I am still engaged with this wonderful business venture, as founder and main shareholder. It is the first European private high-speed railway company with its train, ITALO. In other respects, I don’t have any executive functions anymore, but I still have a lot of ideas.