Luca Cordero di Montezemolo is stepping down from his position as the chairman Ferrari after having been with the Italian luxury sports car maker for over twenty-three years. Montezemolo will be succeeded by the boss of Ferrari’s parent group Fiat after the two men clashed over strategy and the Formula One team’s poor results.
“Ferrari will have an important role to play within the FCA. Group in the upcoming flotation on Wall Street,” Montezemolo said in a statement. “This will open up a new and different phase, which I feel should be spearheaded by the CEO of the group.”
Montezemolo has a long history with both Ferrari and Fiat, having started his career at Fiat before moving over to Ferrari in 1973, just a few years before half of it was taken over by Fiat. He started out as Enzo Ferrari’s assistant, and was appointed to head of the Scuderia in the following year, driving the team to success and subsequently taking over all of the Fiat group’s racing activities. After the Prancing Horse marque struggled in the wake of its founder’s death in 1988, Montezemolo was appointed to take it over in 1991 and has been at the helm ever since.
Both Montezemolo and Marchionne were named to the Fiat board after Fiat Chairman Gianni Agnelli passed away in 2003. Montezemolo was named the chairman of Fiat after Gianni’s younger brother Umberto also passed away. Six years later he was succeeded by Agnelli heir John Elkann and named CEO.
The two senior automotive leaders operated independently in the years that followed, but had recently started to clash over numerous issues. Fiat owns 90% of Ferrari, but has generally allowed the company to operate with a large degree of autonomy. However, that independence may soon be coming to an end, and as a result, Montezemolo has announced he’s stepping down from the chairmanship of Ferrari.
Read more about the story at The Wall Street Journal.
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