Michele Ansaldi

Michele Ansaldi was an Italian industrialist from Turin who made his career in machine tools and later moved into the car industry. He began in the Tarizzo machine tool works at Favria Canavese, became a partner there in 1880, and in 1884 founded his own engineering works, which settled in Turin in 1886 and moved to a far larger site in 1899. In 1904 he founded the Ansaldi car company, and in 1905 he joined Fiat to form FIAT-Ansaldi, only to be ousted a year later after a power struggle with Fiat's management. With Matteo Ceirano he then founded Società Piemontese Automobili (S.P.A.) in Turin on 12 June 1906, holding 9,500 of its 40,000 shares, and left the company in 1911 after clashing with its board. He is buried in the family tomb in the Monumental Cemetery of Turin.