Biography: Mario Giordano, journalist, essayist, author and TV host, has directed Studio Aperto, Tgcom24 and Tg4, among others. Since 2018, he has been hosting “Out of the Choir.” The last book, published in 2023, is Maledette iene (Rizzoli).
Descriptive text of the book:
From the Agnellis to the Benettons: the collapse of the dynasties of the powerful Family quarrels, disputed treasures, crumbling empires
The family capitalism that drove Italy’s boom time now seems like the perfect plot for a TV saga. From the Agnellis to the Benettons, from the De Benedettis to the Del Vecchios, the dirty laundry of Italy’s largest entrepreneurial families no longer washes in their elegant villas, but in the courts where venom, spite and mutual accusations flow.
In the 1980s, the epic story of rampant family capitalism was told: there was the lawyer, the engineer, the farmer… Today, there are only fights, quarrels, grudges and spitefulness in the shadow of budgets that are increasingly in crisis. Like the Agnellis who quarrel over their inheritance, displaying hidden treasures, illnesses, alleged evasions and contending over villas and paintings while what remains of the Italian automobile is gradually dying out. The father engineer Carlo De Benedetti who goes to war against his ‘wretched’ sons who have sold his publishing empire.
Del Vecchio who transferred the company to France and then left it in the hands of his second wife. The Benettons even go so far as to divide the real estate assets by lot while the company accumulates appalling deficits.
An Italian-style dynasty in which, amidst ruthless fights and disputed inheritances, prestige and companies created through years and years of hard work go up in smoke.
