Roberto Colaninno, president and CEO of the scooter manufacturer Piaggio and who during his long business career was also in charge of other Italian colossi such as Olivetti, Telecom Italia and Alitalia, has died at the age of 80, information is Saturday from family sources.
Considered a leading figure in the Italian economy and business world, Colannino began his professional career in 1969, but he is recorded above all for his unprecedented arrival at Telecom in 1999, his work at Alitalia and the relaunch of Piaggio.
After founding Sogefi in 1981, which, under his direction, became one of the main Italian groups in the automotive sector, in 1996 he went on to direct Olivetti, a company that healed in the midst of a serious crisis, according to local media.
Three years later, it launched the largest takeover bid in Italy to date, for a total value of more than 60,000 million euros, to acquire 51% of Telecom Italia, which gave it international notoriety.
He remained in the telecommunications giant until 2001 and since 2003 he also took control of the Piaggio Group, while in 2008 he became one of the three founding partners of Cai (Italian Air Company), known as the “brave captains”. after being persuaded to take over Alitalia and avoid a merger with Air France.
Colaninno was president and director of Alitalia, whose board of directors he left in 2017, when he focused on the relaunch of the Piaggio group. His death has been confirmed by Omniaholding, the family’s controlling holding company, and the funerals will be held in his hometown, Mantua (north), privately.
