CEO Of Piaggio Dies at 80

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Roberto Colaninno, August 16, 1943–August 19, 2023 (Piaggio/)

Piaggio CEO Roberto Colaninno died on August 19 in his hometown of Matua, where the wonderful Canossa Palace dating back to the 17th century had been completely restored. He lived there with his wife and two sons, Matteo and Michele, and their respective families. Roberto Colaninno was one of Italy’s leading entrepreneurs in both the manufacturing industry and in the financial domain.

With no university-level graduation but a very sharp mind and determination, in 1969 he started his career in the automotive components business, soon becoming CEO of FIAAM Filter Co. and in 1981 he founded Sogefi Co., still operating in the automotive components domain. From that point on, Colaninno’s career went on an upswing in that his Sogefi entered the orbit of CIR, a financial group owned by Carlo De Benedetti who, in turn, had very strong connection with the political world, in particular with some of the leaders of the former communist party, now called Democratic Party.

In 1995 Colaninno became CEO of Olivetti, under the wings of De Benedetti. Under the management of Colaninno, Olivetti expanded its production in the domain of electronics giving life to a variety of computers, laptops, and related accessories. In connection with American AT&T, it commanded a substantial position on the market, especially in Europe.

Colaninno had many successes before acquiring control of Piaggio. (Piaggio/)

Roberto Colaninno was vastly responsible for this success, but De Benedetti diverted his personal interests toward other fields and Olivetti slowly lost competitiveness. In a sharp move, Colaninno turned Olivetti into Omnitel, a leading Italian telecommunication company. The Olivetti-Omnitel adventure represented the springboard for Colaninno to reach a stronger position in the Italian financial world.

In 1998, the sale of Olivetti and Omnitel bumped Colaninno’s capital to a high level and he smartly raided the stock exchange to further strengthen his financial position. His financial policy triggered reaction within the old establishment, but his political shield kept him above any possible retaliation. This led him to acquire full control of Telecom Italia, the national communication company, a huge operation that made big waves at the stock exchange.

Telecom included the specific branch that handled the communications network, and Colaninno separated it from the main group, creating a financial holding that was independently quoted at the stock exchange. Colaninno was still surfing the stock market with great success—well supported by De Benedetti. In the early 2000s, Colaninno took aim at Fiat. It was not having its best results as Fiat boss Gianni Agnelli seemed to have lost interest in the automotive industry. But at the same time, Gianni and the whole Agnelli family fully opposed the buyout.

Colaninno never lost interest in the automotive business where he had started his professional career, and in his moves to return to his origins he not only attempted to get control of Fiat, but he also first had contacts with Richard Wagoner, then CEO of General Motors (I can say “first had” because Wagoner asked me about Colaninno and his ethics).

In 2003, Colaninno was able to return to his beloved motor business when he acquired full control of Piaggio. At the time Piaggio was a big name, but in reality it was paddling on low waters. Here, Colaninno proved his ability as a chieftain of the manufacturing industry, just as he had done in the financial arena. Some of his political supporters had lost power and now he was on the front line with no shield. But he was able to start a positive policy of refurbishing the Piaggio name, first focusing all energies on the shining star of Piaggio, the great Vespa.

In 2003, Colaninno took the reins at Piaggio and transformed Vespa, Moto Guzzi, and Aprilia. Now the Piaggio Group is a highly successful European two-wheeled manufacturer. (Piaggio/)

Vespa was totally redesigned inside and out, equipped with state-of-the-art four-stroke singles mated to efficient CVT transmissions. This replaced the old hand-shifted three-speed transmission. Vespa’s impeccable design and image was retained despite these big changes. The new Vespa conquered the hearts and souls of the scooter public around the world. It was a huge success that created a solid financial platform on which the Piaggio Group would not only expand its leadership in scooter and utility two-wheelers, but kicked off the relaunch of Moto Guzzi and Aprilia. Colaninno’s leadership constantly gained momentum, and now Piaggio is one of the largest manufacturers of two-wheeled motorized vehicles in Europe.

Colaninno differentiated model policy for each make, creating an independent Vespa brand for fashionable scooters, while Moto Guzzi and Aprilia play the role of touring and supersport. Under his guidance, Piaggio Group expanded in India, Vietnam, and China, establishing Vespa factories and assembly lines in each nation to respond to the growing demand for Piaggio products.

Colaninno, supported by his son Michele, also created Fast Forward, an high-tech research center located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where a group of Italian specialists cooperate with a group of American researchers and professors from Harvard University. Fast Forward is probing future solutions for high-speed mobility with complete safety and environmental correctness. The group is also investigating a number of variations on the theme of utility drones and VTOL utility craft.

Mr. Roberto Colaninno definitely gave his best as CEO of Piaggio, financially restoring the group and projecting it into the future.

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