The appointment with the "first cent" as a billionaire in Scrooge style for Ennio Doris, the "father" of Mediolanum, arrived in 1981. "There was a chance in a million, indeed a billion - he says - that in that spring day I could get to know Silvio Berlusconi. It was the first time in my life that I went to Genoa and I decided to make a detour to Portofino. It was any Thursday, but fate would have it that, by chance, Berlusconi was there that day for work on his villa ”.
“Another combination – he continues – The month before Capital she had published a cover story about him. And so I immediately recognized him and introduced myself”. In that article, the owner of Milano 2 had declared “if someone has a good idea for a new business, don't go to De Benedetti or Agnelli who won't even receive it. Come to me." And young Doris, a promising rising star in the Diva network of promoters, took him at his word. “I approached him and explained my idea to him: a network capable of placing the properties created by Fininvest but also capable of placing the insurance and financial products connected to the house. Dear doctor, I told him, at Dival I happened to sell certificates of houses built by you: why give away part of the earnings to others?”.
Thus began the adventure, less easy than it may appear 33 years later. “Months later I was summoned to Arcore – he still remembers -. Meanwhile Berlusconi had not been idling. But he hadn't found a manager he liked to lead the initiative. Or rather, everyone's answer was: I earn a lot, offer me more”. And she? “I said: doctor, I earn well in Dival, one hundred million which at the time was a good salary. But I give up everything and start from scratch. On one condition: we do 50 per cent each”.
This and much more can be found in "There's Tomorrow" the autobiography of Mr. Mediolanum presented yesterday in Milan which tells the story of this atypical billionaire, the only one who can aspire to the role of Italian Warren Buffett. The essay by Omaha Doris resembles for several reasons starting from the language, or rather the extraordinary ability to transmit the key concepts of the art of investing in a simple way to the common man. Also because, like Buffett, Doris always appears as a son of the people, the son of a humble family from the North-East rich only in mouths to feed in Italy emerging from the war. An Italy to be remembered with affection but without particular nostalgia because, Mr. Mediolanum admonishes, “the news presents us with extreme cases such as the mother who eliminates her children due to economic desperation. But she knows many cases of mothers who still know how to sacrifice themselves for their children but also for those in need ”. After all, the welfare that works is in Milan 3. “I wanted the crèche attached to the company – he says – everyone was against it, starting with the personnel manager. The result? There had to be 58 places, we went up to 128. The opportunity to have a flexible contract and an asylum within easy reach of the office has caused births to explode, one of the many things I am proud of… I don't believe in the man of ruthless businessman who turns into benefactor in his spare time. A man is really rich if he realizes himself in an environment where everyone is happy ”.
It seems easy, but Doris's story is above all that of a great effort endured with a smile on her lips. Right from the beginning, in that of Tombolo, where a serious illness ("I was saved because the penicillin arrived") kept him away from the fields, to the advantage of the school ("I immediately understood that the half-empty glass is actually half full"). There little Doris, the one who didn't cut the pages of the books to be able to resell them as new (I learned everything in class, listening to the lessons anyway") turns out to be a mathematical genius, as Professor Marangoni will say after an accountancy assignment in which the student had allowed himself to make improvement observations on the balance sheet. “Doris – was the vote – one day you will run a large company”. For this reason the teachers pressed for her to go to university. “But I said no – she concludes – there was a need for an extra salary at home”. Regrets? "Not a bit."
"If we meet in a year - he adds speaking of Italy - you will discover that I am right: things are destined to go much better". Also thanks to Matteo Renzi ("I won't vote for him because I'm tied to my lifelong friend, Silvio, who will continue to do politics in his own way"). "He did the right thing with the tax wedge, but I advise him to do more: go from 10 to 20% and there will be a boom in the economy and in tax revenues." Yes, such a lucky man enjoys it when he looks over his shoulder and admires the work done. But he remains convinced that the next challenge is the more fun one. He arouses envy such a character, perhaps more than money. “It's much better to be envied than to envy” states the Tombolo essay, a made in Italy version of the Omaha essay. But there is a difference: in the kitchen of the Doris house, as always, you eat better than at Warren Buffett's favorite Mc Donald's.
