Mario Moretti Polegato

Mario Moretti Polegato
Mario Moretti Polegato, President and founder at Geox Group (2013).
Born	(1952-08-16) 16 August 1952 (age 64) Crocetta del Montello
Nationality	Italian
Occupation	entrepreneur

Mario Moretti Polegato (born 16 August 1952 in Crocetta del Montello, Italy) is an Italian entrepreneur, active in the footwear sector, who founded the company Geox of which he is the president. According to Forbes magazine, in 2014 he ranks 13th among the richest men in Italy, and 764th in the world, with a fortune estimated at about 2.3 billion dollars.

He was born in Crocetta del Montello (Treviso), into a family of entrepreneurs active in the agricultural and winemaking sector. Following in the family footsteps, he studied oenology. For several years, the entrepreneur of the Veneto region devoted himself to the family business. In the early 1990s, when walking through the desert in Nevada, where he was taking part in a wine fair, to relieve his feet that were overheated due to the rubber-soled shoes he was wearing, he made holes in both soles with a Swiss army knife. When he returned to Italy, he designed a new sole with holes and a breathable and waterproof internal membrane. He was the first person in the world to create a breathable rubber sole, which was immediately patented in over 100 countries worldwide. Mario Moretti Polegato began to think of the scope that his idea might have if launched on a large scale. Therefore, he established Geox in order to produce the shoe that breathes. The company, which employed 5 young graduates at the outset, now has about 30,000 direct and indirect employees. Today, Geox is known worldwide for its technologies and is present in the fashion streets and main shopping centres of 105 countries, through a network of over 1,250 single-brand stores, as well as 400 stores in China. Geox is the leading Italian company and among major world leaders in the “lifestyle” footwear category.

During his working life, Mario Moretti Polegato has received many acknowledgements including Knight of the National Order of Merit from the President of Romania in 2000. In 2002, he was nominated Entrepreneur of the Year – a title given to him by Ernst & Young - and in 2003 he received the Best Italian Entrepreneur in the World award, also from Ernst & Young Global. In 2005, the former Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi bestowed him the title of Cavaliere del Lavoro della Repubblica Italiana (Knight of Labour), whereas in 2006 the Italian President Giorgio Napolitano awarded him the title of Grande Ufficiale della Repubblica (Great Officer of the Republic). The European School of Management Italia (ESCP-EAP) named him Affiliate Professor of Entrepreneurship.