Luciano Benetton

Luciano Benetton, 2015

Luciano Benetton (born May 13, 1935 in Treviso ) is an Italian fashion entrepreneur and co-founder of the Benetton Group , of which he is still President.

Life and work

Benetton dropped out of school at the age of 14 and worked in a fashion store. In 1965, together with his two brothers and sister, he founded the Benetton company , a company for textiles and knitwear. Benetton, who has been in charge of the company's business to this day, announced in 2006 that he would retire from the top of the company in favor of his son Alessandro (* 1964), but was still listed as "Chairman" on the company's website.

Between 1992 and 1994 he was also a senator for the Partito Repubblicano Italiano (PRI) of the Italian Republic .

Benetton's youngest son Rocco (* 1969) managed the company 's own Formula 1 racing team, the Benetton Formula Limited racing team, from 2000 to 2001 .

In 2008 Benetton retired from the company's board of directors. At the end of 2017, the 82-year-old Luciano Benetton returned as Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Benetton Group after the company reported losses of around EUR 81 million in 2016. To protect his company from losses and to revive Benetton's old brand identity, he hired the designer Jean Charles de Castelbajac . In 2019, Luciano Benetton tries to save Alitalia , which is facing bankruptcy for the third time in a decade .

Benetton family

The Benetton Group SpA was founded in 1965 by the four Benetton siblings from Ponzano near Treviso :

Luciano Benetton (born May 13, 1935) has four children with his wife Maria Teresa Maestri:

Mauro (born June 15, 1962)
Alessandro (born March 2, 1964)
Rossella (born June 23, 1965)
Rocco (born September 29, 1969)

Giuliana Benetton (born July 8, 1937) is in the management of Edizione Holding and the Benetton Group. She is responsible for planning knitwear and coordinating the product series. Giuliana has four children.

Gilberto Benetton (born June 19, 1941 - October 22, 2018) was President of Edizione Holding and oversaw all investments and the real estate sector. He was also President of Autogrill and Director of the Benetton Group . He was also Vice-President of Olimpia , major shareholder in the telecommunications sector and Director of Autostrade SpA , Mediobanca SpA , Pirelli SpA and Abertis Infrastucturas SA Gilberto had two children.

Carlo Benetton (born December 26, 1943 - † July 10, 2018) was Vice Chairman of Edizione Holding and the Benetton Group. He was responsible for production and distribution between the headquarters and the international branches. Carlo had four children.

Benetton manage their property through its holding company Edizione srl in Treviso . This holds shares u. a. to Autostrade SpA , the operating company for almost two thirds of the Italian motorway network, to Autogrill , a chain of motorway service stations, as well as to various Italian banks, insurance companies, media companies, airport operating companies and industrial companies such as Pirelli .