Gianroberto Casaleggio

Gianroberto Casaleggio (Italian pronunciation: [dʒanroˈbɛrto kazaˈleddʒo]; 14 August 1954 – 12 April 2016) was an Italian entrepreneur and political activist, born in Milan.

He was co-founder and chairman of Casaleggio Associati srl, an internet and publishing company that advises on network strategies, and editor of Beppe Grillo's blog. He was also co-founder, with Beppe Grillo, of the Five Star Movement, of which he was sometimes called "guru". In the Italian context, Casaleggio promoted the Web as a medium for political communication.

Casaleggio began his career working at Olivetti S.p.A, then, in the late 1990s, became CEO at Webegg SpA, an internet consulting company. Webegg suffered heavy losses (over €20 million) in the period 2002–2003, and Casaleggio was replaced as CEO of Webegg in 2003 by Giuseppe Longo, appointed to lead the company turnaround. In 2004, Casaleggio founded Casaleggio Associati, an internet consulting company that carries out research on e-commerce in Italy and whose finding are presented at a conference held in Milan every spring (since 2006).

Casaleggio Associati has been since 2005 the editor of Beppe Grillo's blog as well as of some of Grillo's books. Casaleggio Associati was also editor of the web-blog of Antonio Di Pietro (until 2010), and the website of Chiarelettere, an editor, until 2013, when was dismissed following divergence over the editorial strategy.

Gianroberto Casaleggio died on 12 April 2016 in Milan, at the age of 61, after a long period of illness.

Davide Casaleggio, the son of Gianroberto, after Gianroberto's death was appointed as the president of Casaleggio Associati based in Milan.

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