Rocco Commisso, owner and president of the Fiorentina He passed away last night in the United States, where he had gone for treatment. The club announced the news in a statement. It was known that he was not well, but the city hoped to see him back in Florence soon. The team, management, and fans, who had always recognized in him exceptional charisma, as well as extraordinary entrepreneurial skills, awaited him. "With great pain and sadness, the Commisso family, including his wife Catherine, his children Giuseppe and Marisa, and his sisters Italia and Raffaelina, announce the passing of President Rocco B. Commisso. After a prolonged period of treatment, our beloved President has left us, and today we all mourn his passing," the club's website reads. Commisso had purchased Fiorentina in 2019, and under his management, the club achieved two Conference League finals e one of the Italian Cup.
Who was Commisso: from manager to passion for football?
Born in Calabria in Marina di Gioiosa Ionica, November 25, 1949, he had just turned 76. As a child he had moved with his family to the United StatesHe began his professional career at the production plant of Pfizer in New York. After graduating with a degree in business administration in 1975, he spent a decade in the financial sector. From 1986 to 1995, he served as executive vice president, chief financial officer, and member of the board of directors of Cablevision Industries Corporation. In 1995 he founded Mediacom, which in just a few years has become the fifth largest cable operator in the United States. According to Forbes, his net worth was $8 billion as of October 8, 2023.
A football lover, in 2017 he bought the New York Cosmos, club playing in the North American second division, but the big leap was the purchase of the FiorentinaIn 2023 he gave the city of Florence the 'Viola Park', Fiorentina's home, a sports center built just outside the Tuscan capital. "'Call me Rocco,' he simply told everyone, with his extraordinary empathy. And he was always close to Florence and the Florentines, in their daily lives and even during the most difficult period of the Covid emergency, when the 'Strength and Heart' campaign allocated significant donations to the city's hospitals."
