He died yesterday, after a long illness, Gilberto Benetton. She was 77 years old and was the financial soul of the family and of the Benetton group. After the death of Carlo, which occurred only a few months ago, it is the second mourning that the ominous 2018 reserves for the Benetton family.
In the family Carlo and Giuliana Benetton were the technicians and Luciano the creative but Gilberto himself, with the support of a trusted manager like Gianni Mion, was the one who allowed the group to make the leap in quality and create a 10 billion euro international giant.
After the success of the sweater company, it was Gilberto himself, at the end of the 80s, who pushed the Benettons to diversify their business into services and utilities. A choice that had raised criticisms because it inevitably implied relations with politics and institutions but that had allowed the group to become a international giant.
The second season of the Benettons began at the time of the privatizations with the purchase of SME, which later became Rest, which was followed – gradually – motorways, airports, real estate and financial holdings. The recent collapse of the Morandi Bridge in Genoa, costing dozens of deaths, it had upset and embittered Gilberto like the whole Benetton family.
Gilberto Benetton, as well as leader of Edizione (the group's holding company), was on the boards of Autogrill, Atlantia, Mediobanca, Pirelli and Allianz.
