Carlo De Benedetti

Carlo De Benedetti
Carlo De Benedetti at the Festival dell'Economia di Trento, 31 May 2012
Born	(1934-11-14) 14 November 1934 (age 82) Turin, Italy
Occupation	Industrialist. Ex-CEO of FIAT, Olivetti, CIR Group. Ex-deputy chairman of Banco Ambrosiano and ex president of Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso.

Carlo De Benedetti (born 14 November 1934) is an Italian industrialist, engineer and publisher. He is both an Italian and naturalized Swiss citizen.

He was awarded the Order of Merit for Labour by the Italian state in 1983, the Medaglia d'oro ai benemeriti della cultura e dell'arte (Gold medal of culture and art) and the Legion d'Honneur in 1987.

De Benedetti is chairman of the Rodolfo De Benedetti Foundation (Fondazione Rodolfo Debenedetti) in Milan, which he founded in 1998 in memory of his father. It promotes research into economic policy decisions regarding the labor market and welfare systems in Europe.

He is currently married to the former actress Silvia Monti.

Born into a wealthy Jewish family, on 14 November 1934, Carlo De Benedetti is the brother of Italian Senator Franco Debenedetti, whose surname is different owing to a spelling error. In 1943, during the World War II, the De Benedetti family fled to Switzerland. After Carlo returned to Italy, he received a degree in electrical engineering from the Polytechnic University of Turin and in 1959 began to work in his father's manufacturing business, the Compagnia Italiana Tubi Metallici Flessibili. He helped improve company profits consistently and in 1972 acquired the Gilardini company, of which he became president and CEO until 1976.
Carlo De Benedetti left Italy to return to Switzerland in 1975, owing to possible terrorist threats during the Anni di Piombo period of Italian domestic terrorism.

For a brief period, from 4 May to 25 August 1976, he was appointed CEO of FIAT. His resignation from Fiat was caused, according to De Benedetti, by his decision to lay off 65,000 workers, which was refused by Fiat head Gianni Agnelli; other sources say that he was suspected of trying to build up a takeover of power within the company, with the backing Swiss financial groups.