Ita, story of the third defeat for Altavilla (after Fca and Tim)
The ups and downs of the top manager Altavilla between FCA, Tim and Ita. Italics by Gianluca Zappa
Mike, Luigi and Fabio, three names that Alfredo will not easily forget. The former dolphin of Sergio Marchionne, Altavilla, has in fact collected a hat-trick in four years that will turn the head of even shrewd players like him.
Since summer 2018, the Apulian manager has engaged in three rustic duels for the conquest of command posts in leading companies for the country system (curiously all with the company name of three letters: FCA, TIM and ITA), being defeated without appeal in the first two cases and a comeback (perhaps) in the third. But let's go in order.
FCA – Alfredo Altavilla was certain, in that July four years ago , that he would take command of FCA: he was, moreover, Marchionne's most trusted advisor in the complex negotiations with Chrysler, accompanying him on all the preliminary trips from Turin to Detroit first, then sitting on the board of directors of the American car manufacturer, and then being placed to preside over the EMEA market (Europe, Middle East and Africa) of the group. For this path of continuous growth, Altavilla hoped to inherit the scepter of the Italian-Canadian manager, after his untimely death. As known, however, things did not go like this: John Elkann unexpectedly preferred Mike Manley, the Jeep boss. Furious, Altavilla slammed the door and said goodbye to the automotive group.
TIM – Not even the time to lick his wounds due to the abrasive coming out of the automotive, after 28 years, Altavilla launched into another challenge. In Tim, the Elliott fund won the internal challenge with Vivendi on the governance of the company and, after liquidating CEO Amos Genish, looked among the directors to see if there was a suitable profile for the role of new company manager. The candidacies of Alfredo Altavilla and Luigi Gubitosi immediately emerged as the most accredited for the role, while Rocco Sabelli, also a member at the time of the board, withdrew from the game. This race also ended with a debacle for the former FCA manager, with the investiture of Gubitosi.
ITA – In 2021 Altavilla was chosen by Prime Minister Draghi as executive president of Ita Airways, the new airline born after the operational closure of Alitalia. Altavilla succeeded Francesco Caio, who had been identified by the previous head of the executive Giuseppe Conte, together with Fabio Lazzerini. With the choice of Draghi, suggested by his advisor Francesco Giavazzi, however, the internal powers changed, with the passage to the presidency of some important delegations such as strategies, finance and personnel, creating a conflictual dialectic with Lazzerini ( Repubblica also spoke of a Altavilla's attempt to accompany Lazzarini to the exit). The news of last week, with the withdrawal of proxies (withdrawal endorsed by the Ministry of Economy , despite the puffs of the board of auditors), also marks the end of this game.
Small footnote, the two winners of Altavilla did not have a peaceful life as well, leaving prematurely from the roles they won. But this is only a detail for the combative (perhaps too combative) Altavilla.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/ita-storia-della-terza-sconfitta-per-altavilla-dopo-fca-e-tim/ on Tue, 18 Oct 2022 09:28:41 +0000.