Giovanni Agnelli

Giovanni Agnelli was an Italian industrialist who was the principal founder of Fiat, established in Turin in 1899, and the man who made it a cornerstone of the Italian automotive industry. Born on 13 August 1866 in Villar Perosa in Piedmont, the son of Edoardo Agnelli and Aniceta Frisetti, he followed a military career before returning home and serving as mayor of Villar Perosa from 1895 until his death. After meeting Count Emanuele Cacherano di Bricherasio in 1898 he became one of the founding members of Fiat on 11 July 1899, was its managing director a year later and became chairman in 1920, buying shares until by 1927 he was the major shareholder. He was also involved with the financier Riccardo Gualino in shipping and other ventures during and after the First World War, owned the newspaper La Stampa, and sat as a senator from 1923. He was briefly deprived of ownership after the war, was acquitted, and died on 16 December 1945.