Biography of John Elkann
John Elkann--whose full name is John Philip Jacob Elkann-was born on 1 St April of 1976 in New York, the eldest son of Alain Elkann and Margherita Agnelli (that they will divorce a few years later, in 1981). Nicknamed "Jaki" (or "Yaki"), Geneva and brother Lapo, attended the scientific high school "Victor Duruy in Paris, and after graduating he enrolled at the Politecnico di Torino (despite his grandfather Gianni Agnelli wishes for him a future at Bocconi University in Milan, Faculty of Economics), where in 2000 he graduates--with a vote of 95/110-in industrial engineering with a thesis on online auctions created thanks to the activities carried out in the IGC of General Electric last year. This is not, however, the only professional job that John Elkann is dedicated during university years: in 1996, for example, had worked in a factory of Magneti Marelli in Britain, in Birmingham, working installation of headlights; in 1997, however, he had been employed in Poland in the Assembly line of Tychy Panda before toiling in a French car dealership, in Lille.
In 1997 John Elkann is chosen by Gianni Agnelli, his grandfather, as his successor, after the death of Giovanni Alberto Agnelli, Gianni's nephew and son of Umberto, died at 33 years old while he was about to become the guide of the Fiat group. So, having joined the Board of Directors of Fiat and of Giovanni Agnelli e c. limited partnership just twenty-one years, in 2001 John Elkann joined as a member of the Corporate Audit Staff in General Electric, carrying out tasks in Europe, the United States and Asia.
A young Guide
Since 2003 he began working on the relaunch of the Fiat group; After entering the Ifil, in 2004 (dead grandfather Gianni and uncle Umberto) becomes Vice President of Fiat. That same year he played a decisive role in the choice of Sergio Marchionne as ceo of the group. On 4 September 2004 he married Lavinia Borromeo Arese Tavern, on Lake Maggiore, in the chapel of the mother Island, one of the Borromean Islands, in the town of Stresa, in the province of Verbania: the reception arouses the attention of news organizations around the world, also for the presence of more than five hundred guests in the location chosen, the Isola Bella. On 27 August 2006 Elkann becomes father of her first child, lion Moses, and the following year, the 11 November 2007, welcomes her second son, who is called Ocean Noah: both children are born at the Sant'Anna hospital in Turin, a public facility.John Elkann and the new roles of responsibility
In May 2008 Elkann is elected, by unanimous decision of the Board of Directors and its members, the President of Ifil, the holding company's operations group: the company, having been joined with Ifi (the family that controls financial Ifil), Exor is renamed the following year. On 21 April 2010 John became Chairman of Fiat Group, replacing Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, going to occupy that same armchair on which grandfather Gianni had sat for the first time in 1966, when he was forty-five. Become, therefore, Plenipotentiary of the group a week later John Elkann appoints Andrea Agnelli, his cousin, President of Juventus. Spend a few weeks and was appointed President of John Elkann Agnelli e c. Sapaz. Also in 2010 gets the "Appeal of Conscience", an award founded by Rabbi Arthur Schneier that twenty five years earlier had been won by grandfather Gianni. Starting from 1 January 2011 is Chairman of Fiat Spa, a company sort after deconsolidation of Fiat Industrial and turned, following the merger with Chrysler, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA). In February he was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Exor, while at the end of August is invited to participate in the annual Rimini Meeting organized by communion and Liberation, where intervenes with Sergio Marchionne. In January of 2012 becomes a father for the third time, his wife Lavinia Borromeo, in fact, gives birth to Life Talita, who was born in turn to the Hospital of St Anne; in the same year, March participates as team owner Giovanni Soldini crossing from Miami to New York aboard a monohull Maserati, destined to establish the new record category with the aim to cover the 947 miles away. In may, instead, together with Lavinia, John takes part at the 30th reenactment of the Mille Miglia vintage car competition that takes place between Brescia and Rome on public roads: the couple comes to 147° place aboard a Fiat V8. In 2013 is placed by the magazine "Fortune" in the ranking of the most influential manager with less than forty years around the world, ranking in fourth place on the list. Participate in another race the Transpac Race from Los Angeles to Honolulu before turning to Watch, from Cape Town to Rio de Janeiro port, always as a crew member. Starting in 2013, also sits on the board of News Corp, the Australian company led by Rupert Murdoch that counts among his advisers also Jose Maria Aznar, former head of the Spanish Government. The following year, Elkann was appointed Chairman of the board of Cushman & Wakefield, a New York-based real estate giant that is controlled by Exor. In February 2015 back by boat alongside Soldini for Rorc Caribbean 600 Race, still with Maserati.Article contributed by the team of collaborators.