The Most Famous

BUSINESSPEOPLE from Italy

This page contains a list of the greatest Italian Businesspeople. The pantheon dataset contains 847 Businesspeople, 30 of which were born in Italy. This makes Italy the birth place of the 6th most number of Businesspeople behind France, and India.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Italian Businesspeople of all time. This list of famous Italian Businesspeople is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Italian Businesspeople.

1. Cosimo de' Medici (1389 - 1464)

With an HPI of 78.37, Cosimo de' Medici is the most famous Italian Businessperson. His biography has been translated into 55 different languages on wikipedia.

Cosimo di Giovanni de' Medici (27 September 1389 – 1 August 1464) was an Italian banker and politician who established the Medici family as effective rulers of Florence during much of the Italian Renaissance. His power derived from his wealth as a banker and intermarriage with other rich and powerful families. He was a patron of arts, learning, and architecture. He spent over 600,000 gold florins (approx. $500 million inflation adjusted) on art and culture, including Donatello's David, the first freestanding nude male sculpture since antiquity. Despite his influence, his power was not absolute; he was viewed by fellow Florentine politicians as first among equals rather than an autocrat. Florence's legislative councils resisted his proposals throughout his political career, even sending him into exile from 1433 to 1434.

2. Ferruccio Lamborghini (1916 - 1993)

With an HPI of 78.10, Ferruccio Lamborghini is the 2nd most famous Italian Businessperson. His biography has been translated into 48 different languages.

Ferruccio Lamborghini ( LAM-bər-GHEE-nee; Italian: [ferˈruttʃo lamborˈɡiːni]; 28 April 1916 – 20 February 1993) was an Italian automobile designer, soldier, inventor, mechanic, engineer, winemaker, industrialist, and businessman who created Lamborghini Trattori in 1948 and the Automobili Lamborghini in 1963, a maker of high-end sports cars in Sant'Agata Bolognese. Born to grape farmers in Renazzo, from the comune (municipality) of Cento, in the Emilia-Romagna region, his mechanical know-how led him to enter the business of tractor manufacturing in 1948, when he founded Lamborghini Trattori, which quickly became an important manufacturer of agricultural equipment in the midst of Italy's post-WWII economic boom. In 1959, he opened an oil burner factory, Lamborghini Bruciatori, which later entered the business of producing air conditioning equipment. Lamborghini founded a fourth company, Lamborghini Oleodinamica, in 1969 after creating Automobili Lamborghini in 1963. Lamborghini sold off many of his interests by the late 1970s and retired to an estate in Umbria, where he pursued winemaking.

3. Guccio Gucci (1881 - 1953)

With an HPI of 75.42, Guccio Gucci is the 3rd most famous Italian Businessperson. His biography has been translated into 33 different languages.

Guccio Giovanbattista Giacinto Dario Maria Gucci (pronounced [ˈɡuttʃo ˈɡuttʃi]; 26 March 1881 – 2 January 1953) was an Italian businessman and fashion designer and founder of the fashion house Gucci.

4. Ettore Bugatti (1881 - 1947)

With an HPI of 72.83, Ettore Bugatti is the 4th most famous Italian Businessperson. His biography has been translated into 40 different languages.

Ettore Arco Isidoro Bugatti (15 September 1881 – 21 August 1947) was a Franco-Italian automobile designer and manufacturer. He received French citizenship in 1946 and is remembered as the founder and proprietor of the automobile manufacturing company Automobiles E. Bugatti, which he founded in 1909 in the then German town of Molsheim in the Alsace region of what is now France. Bugatti died in Paris, and is buried in Dorlisheim, France.

5. Giovanni Agnelli (1866 - 1945)

With an HPI of 72.02, Giovanni Agnelli is the 5th most famous Italian Businessperson. His biography has been translated into 37 different languages.

Giovanni Agnelli (13 August 1866 – 16 December 1945) was an Italian industrialist and principal founder of Fiat S.p.A., established in 1899. Under his leadership, Fiat became a cornerstone of Italy's automotive industry, significantly contributing to the country's industrialization in the early 20th century. Agnelli also served as a Senator from 1923 to 1944, reflecting his influential role in Italian society.

6. Flavio Briatore (b. 1950)

With an HPI of 70.91, Flavio Briatore is the 6th most famous Italian Businessperson. His biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Flavio Briatore (Italian: [ˈflaːvjo bri.aˈtoːre]; born 12 April 1950) is an Italian businessman, who serves as executive adviser and de facto team principal of Alpine in Formula One. As the longtime team principal of Team Enstone (Benetton Formula / Renault F1 Team), Briatore led the team to three World Constructors' Championship and four World Drivers' Championship victories. However, he was dogged by allegations of cheating, including the 1994 "Launch Control" controversy and the 2007 "Spygate" affair, although in both cases his teams escaped penalties. He was forced out of Renault and received a lifetime ban from F1 after the 2008 "Crashgate" scandal, although a French court subsequently overturned the ban. Fifteen years later, he returned to the Enstone team, which currently operates as Alpine F1. Briatore started his career as a restaurant manager and insurance salesman in Italy. He was convicted in Italy on several fraud charges in the 1980s, receiving two prison sentences, though the convictions were later extinguished by an amnesty. He spent several years as a fugitive in the Virgin Islands and the United States, where he set up several United Colors of Benetton franchises, paving the way for his role at Benetton's F1 team. From 2007 to 2011, he was part-owner and chairman of English association football team Queens Park Rangers.

7. Piero Ferrari (b. 1945)

With an HPI of 69.35, Piero Ferrari is the 7th most famous Italian Businessperson. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Piero Ferrari (born Piero Lardi, 22 May 1945; later Piero Lardi Ferrari) is an Italian billionaire businessman and sport personality. He is the second and only living son of Enzo Ferrari, and a 10.48% owner of the Ferrari automotive company, of which he is the vice chairman. He owns 13.2% of the Ferretti Group. As of February 2025, his net worth was estimated at US$10.2 billion.

8. Massimo Moratti (b. 1945)

With an HPI of 68.71, Massimo Moratti is the 8th most famous Italian Businessperson. His biography has been translated into 34 different languages.

Massimo Moratti (born 16 May 1945) is an Italian billionaire petroleum businessman, the former owner of Inter Milan and chairman of the Saras Group, founded in 1962 by his father, industrialist Angelo Moratti. The main production site of the Saras Group is the Sarroch refinery located on the island of Sardinia, one of Europe's only six supersites, with a capacity of 300,000 barrels per day, representing 15% of refining capacity in Italy. In recent years, initially to enable independence of the Sarroch refinery from terms of energy, the Saras Group has entered into the production of electricity and is expanding its production of alternative energy sources, particularly in the field of wind energy, through its subsidiaries Sarlux and Sardeolica, the latter of which is controlled indirectly through the company Eolici Ulassai. From 1995 until 2013, Moratti was the chairman of Internazionale. He is said to have spent around €1.5 billion of his personal fortune in the transfer market, and was famous for signing numerous football superstars such as Ronaldo in 1997. He was Inter's honorary chairman, and also a United Nations goodwill ambassador. In 2013, he was inducted into the Italian Football Hall of Fame.

9. Michele Ferrero (1925 - 2015)

With an HPI of 67.92, Michele Ferrero is the 9th most famous Italian Businessperson. His biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Michele Ferrero (Italian pronunciation: [miˈkɛːle ferˈrɛːro]; 26 April 1925 – 14 February 2015) was an Italian billionaire businessman. He owned the chocolate manufacturer Ferrero SpA, Europe's second-largest confectionery company (at the time of his death), which he developed from the small bakery and café of his father in Alba, Piedmont. His first big success was his work with Francesco Rivella in adding vegetable oil to the traditional gianduja paste to make the popular spread Nutella.

10. Giovanni di Cosimo de' Medici (1421 - 1463)

With an HPI of 65.02, Giovanni di Cosimo de' Medici is the 10th most famous Italian Businessperson. His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Giovanni di Cosimo de' Medici (3 June 1421 – 23 September 1463) was an Italian banker and patron of arts. Giovanni was the son of Cosimo de' Medici the Elder and Contessina de' Bardi, and brother to Piero the Gouty. Unlike the latter, Giovanni enjoyed good health and was seen by Cosimo as his probable successor. From 1438 he directed the branch of the family bank in Ferrara. He received also a humanistic education, showing a major interest in music. In 1454 Giovanni was elected Prior of Florence and the following year he was a member of the delegation which received Pope Pius II in the city. The following year Cosimo made him general director of the Medici bank, but, unsatisfied because of Giovanni's distraction in arts and other activities, assigned to him Francesco Sassetti as tutor. Giovanni married Maria Ginevra di Niccolò Alessandri, daughter of Niccolò Alessandri, in 1452. This marriage recognized the support that Niccolò had provided to Cosimo during his exile in 1433, and bound the families together. The couple had one child, a son, Cosimo (c. 1454 – c. 1459), known as Cosimino (little Cosimo). Ginevra frequently visited thermal baths for her health. There she built up a network of influential women who she regularly corresponded with. Ginevra died after 2 Aug 1478. He died in 1463, and was buried in the Sagrestia Vecchia of the Basilica di San Lorenzo. Later a monument was sculpted for him and his brother by Andrea Verrocchio. Giovanni de' Medici was a famous patron of arts. He had the Villa Medici in Fiesole built by Michelozzo Michelozzi (but probably in collaboration with Giovanni's friend, Leon Battista Alberti). He had a large collection of sculptures, coins, manuscripts, jewels, musical instruments and other material. Artists who worked for him included: Mino da Fiesole, Desiderio da Settignano, Donatello, Domenico Veneziano, Filippo Lippi and Pesellino.

People

Pantheon has 30 people classified as Italian businesspeople born between 1389 and 1975. Of these 30, 9 (30.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Italian businesspeople include Flavio Briatore, Piero Ferrari, and Massimo Moratti. The most famous deceased Italian businesspeople include Cosimo de' Medici, Ferruccio Lamborghini, and Guccio Gucci. As of April 2024, 30 new Italian businesspeople have been added to Pantheon including Cosimo de' Medici, Ferruccio Lamborghini, and Guccio Gucci.