He died in the night Giampiero Pesenti, at the age of 88. An engineer and industrialist, Pesenti was chairman of Italmobiliare and Italcementi before his family sold them to the German Heidelberg in 2015. He was one of the protagonists of Italian post-war industry and finance.
Born in Milan on May 5, 1931, Pesenti started his business in Italcementi in 1958, first becoming general manager. He joined the board of directors in 1967, and then acquired the positions of president and managing director following the death of his father Carlo, in 1984. Between 2014 and 2017 he was honorary president.
"All people have different characters, despite the differences I feel like my father in many ways of thinking and acting, but above all in the great desire to undertake", he underlined to demonstrate the continuity of his entrepreneurial commitment.
Under Pesenti's leadership, Italcementi embarked on a path of development and assumed a global dimension, by acquiring Ciments Francais in April 1992, a company twice the size of the Bergamo group.
Pesenti also participated in the syndicate agreements of Mediobanca need Rcs – of which he was president for 9 years, until 2013 – and held the position of vice president of Confindustria from the 1992 1996.
Over the years, Pesenti has held numerous positions on the boards of directors of various companies, including Mediobanca, Pirelli, Ras, Falck, Fiat, Montedison, Rizzoli Corriere della Sera, Credito Italiano/Unicredit, Mittel.
“A large industrial group cannot ignore finance – he often recalled – it is absurd to distinguish between Catholic finance and secular finance. I have good relations with everyone."
In 1977 Pesenti was named Grand Officer and in 2009 Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic. Knight of Labor since 1989, he also received the Legion of Honor from the President of the French Republic in 2004.
