John Elkann (left) with Ferrari Chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo in Abu Dhabi in 2009. Elkann, who was vice president of Fiat at the time, was set to take over the company founded by his great-grandfather and run for decades by his grandfather, Gianni Agnelli. .Photo/Luca Bruno, Associated Press
Five years ago, after the funeral of Marella Agnelli, the widow of the great 20th century businessman Gianni Agnelli, members of Italy’s most famous business dynasty gathered at a grand 18th-century villa on the outskirts of Turin.
But rather
Although it was a somber reunion, the incident was the latest spark in a feud tearing the family apart as the late couple’s sole survivor, Margherita, and her son John Elkann clashed over his father’s multibillion-euro fortune. It became a point. Relatives say the two have not seen each other since then.
The schism was thrust back into the spotlight last month when authorities raided the home and offices of Mr. Elkann, head of the family business and chairman of automaker Stellantis, after his mother accused him of helping her evade Italian taxes. .
“For more than 20 years, Margherita Agnelli has persecuted her three eldest sons and their parents in court,” Elkann’s lawyers said after the raid.
The battle over Gianni Agnelli’s legacy
The 20-year dispute has left Margherita competing with her three older children, and the 68-year-old is fighting for the five children she had with her second husband. It is said that there is.
Billions of euros of assets are at stake, including works of art by Monet and Picasso and shares in Desembre, the ultimate parent of listed conglomerate Exor, and assets held by Elkann. Value has increased by 2,700 per cent under Elkann since his grandfather’s time to €33 billion (NZ$58.6 billion). Death over 20 years ago.
![FILE - This 1988 file photo shows Giovanni Agnelli and his wife Marella Caracciolo.Photo/Alberto Lamela, Associated Press](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/-IebRqF9JAbTwiPjceMpMb951ag=/16x11/smart/filters:quality(70)/cloudfront-ap-southeast-2.images.arcpublishing.com/nzme/25WVOYDBERHZHKQOJ27FHK2NJ4.jpg)
Like Fiat, which was built by Gianni Agnelli into one of the world’s largest car manufacturers and is now part of the global car group Stellantis, Exor is a former luxury car company that has acquired the luxury car brand Ferrari and Juventus football club from the Dutch club. It holds major stakes in companies ranging from medical device maker Philips.and news magazines economist.
“At stake is the ownership of Desembles, and by extension the ownership of Exor…if Margherita were to triumph within her.” [multiple] Mauro Orlandi, a private law professor at Rome’s Luis University, argues that ownership of Desembre will be redistributed, with Elkann losing a majority.
When Gianni Agnelli died in 2003, his widow and daughter each inherited 37.5 percent of Desembl’s shares and assets worth hundreds of millions of euros, ranging from art to real estate in Italy and abroad. Mr. Erkann, his grandfather’s anointed successor, had already been gifted 25 percent of the company.
The following year, when the survival of the debt-ridden Fiat was in jeopardy, Margherita decided to withdraw from the family business, transferring her shares in Desembre to her mother and giving up her rights to the real estate in exchange for 1.2 billion yen. Agreed to pay in euros.
Marella and Margherita were living in Switzerland at the time, so after a settlement was reached under Swiss law, their grandmother sold part of Desemblé to Elkann’s younger brothers, Lapo and Ginebra. Mr. Rapo and Mr. Ginebra currently own 20% each, and have sold the remaining stake to Mr. Elkann. John for many years.
Margherita’s change of heart
However, shortly after the agreement was made, Margherita changed her mind. Her father’s estate included hundreds of millions of euros hidden abroad, a portion of which she claimed she was entitled to. . In 2010, she lost a legal challenge to the 2004 agreement, but that did not end the feud within her family.
Under the settlement, Margherita also had to pay a pension to her mother. She now claims that her mother did not pay income tax on this pension in 2018 or 2019, and that she should have done so under Italian law, and that Ms. Marella paid no income tax on this pension in the last years of her life. He claims to have spent most of his time in Italy. I don’t have Swiss residency status.
This was revealed by Margherita’s publicist. financial times She has always sought only to protect the interests of her second husband, Serge de Paalen’s five children, and that “my father only donated 25 percent of Desembles to John Elkann, leaving the rest to John Elkann.” He left it to Margherita and his widow, so I wanted to respect my father’s wishes.” Marella Caracciolo.”
Elkann’s lawyers said that Margherita cashed out in 2004 “at a time when the future of the family and her son’s business interests was uncertain” and that after Margherita restructured Fiat, the family’s further He said he changed his mind to profit from his wealth.
![Gianni Agnelli (right) and Chief Operating Officer Cesare Romiti (1988 photo).Photo/Gianni Foggia, Associated Press](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/kSDddMVeY_X1MMse0V_zQQ0ctYU=/16x14/smart/filters:quality(70)/cloudfront-ap-southeast-2.images.arcpublishing.com/nzme/Z6XFNKXI4NH5BNHYH2O2SGGHCE.jpg)
Margherita’s lawyer rejected this, saying she had been “provoked” by her three older children, and that the 2004 inheritance settlement brought by Marella in Switzerland in 2015 and John the following year was not validating the 2004 inheritance settlement. He referred to the ongoing litigation that has taken over to confirm the gender.
Lapo Elkann and Ginebra Elkann joined the case after their grandmother’s death. Further litigation over Marella’s estate continues in Switzerland.
“It is true that the Elkanns filed a lawsuit against the mother.” [in Switzerland] “This was before my grandmother’s will was made public,” the lawyer said.
Margherita’s cousin, Lupo Rattazzi, said he believed Margherita’s actions were due to “the seller’s remorse.”
“I remember she told me [Fiat] “It will end up being like Parmalato,” he told the FT, referring to the Italian food group that went bankrupt in 2003. [in Dicembre] Even after she sold, she would not have broken the settlement. ”
rich rewards
John Elkann currently owns 60% of Desembl stock and ultimately controls Exor. Exor, Stellantis’ largest shareholder, will receive a dividend of around 700 million euros after the car manufacturing group reported a record annual profit of 18.6 billion euros last month.
Assets owned by Exor, formerly known as IFIL, have grown to around 33 billion euros, up from around 1.2 billion euros when Mr. Elkann’s grandfather died.
The family had hoped that Ginebra Elkann would act as an interlocutor between her grandmother, mother and siblings, and that any differences would be resolved. But those hopes disappeared at Marella’s funeral, and Margherita and John got into even more arguments, according to several guests.
The main point of contention now is where Marella lived in his later years. Margherita’s lawyers argue that because Margherita resides in Italy, the will should have been regulated by Italian law, where children are always entitled to part of their parents’ assets. .
Lawyers for the three Elkann brothers argued in court that Margherita waived her right to further claim her inheritance when she signed the 2004 agreement.
![Fiat businessman Gianni Agnelli unveiled the new Fiat two-door models Bravo and five-door Brava in Turin at a ceremony in 1995. Photo / Mauro Pirone, AP](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/pw0ib57bqlszdP-P-m3fJdg4SiI=/16x13/smart/filters:quality(70)/cloudfront-ap-southeast-2.images.arcpublishing.com/nzme/ZC3EIZLNAVGQTO4S56E45UJHH4.jpg)
“In 2004, Mrs. De Paalen freely decided to sell her shares. [in Dicembre]This is now a deal that cannot be undone,” a spokesperson for the Elkanns said. financial times.
However, Margherita’s lawyer disagrees. In lawsuits in Italy and Switzerland, she is contesting the validity of her mother’s will, which she excluded based on a 2004 agreement. The will was drawn up in Switzerland in 2011 and excluded her from it.
Four of De Paalen’s five children joined their mother in a lawsuit contesting their grandmother’s will. In one case, which has been going on for four years, Margherita is also contesting whether Switzerland should have jurisdiction over her mother’s estate.
Independent legal experts say that if the tax evasion charges that led to this month’s raid are successful and prosecutors conclude that Marella lived in Italy during her lifetime, rather than Switzerland as she claimed. It could help Margherita’s legal team argue that Italian law should govern. A dispute over her mother’s will.
However, a spokesperson for the Elkanns said: “There is no scenario in which the control and ownership of Desemblage would change as a result of Mrs de Paalen’s maneuver.”
family division
The dispute split Margherita’s children. Friends and family said Lapo and Ginebra supported their younger brother, John, and had cut off contact with their mother and half-brother.
Sources close to both sides of the family say the relationship between Margherita, an artist who has never worked in the family business, and her three children from her marriage to Alain Elkann was “rocky” from an early age. talk.
Some of Margherita’s extended family, who did not wish to remain anonymous, claim that some assets were hidden from her in connection with the 2004 agreement and that others, including paintings worth hundreds of millions of euros, disappeared. claims that his feelings of resentment are justified. Since Marella’s death.
“Margherita’s father left her a painting, which her mother kept until her death. [by legal agreement] However, some of these works of art have gone missing,” her spokesperson said.
However, a spokesperson for the Elkanns said: “No paintings were ever lost. These artworks are the personal property of Marella Caracciolo Agnelli, and after her death, they were all transferred to her by a Swiss court-appointed administrator.” It was fully accounted for in the inheritance,” he added. It appeared that Margherita was “determined to cause mental suffering to her three older children.”
With seven lawsuits pending and expected to take years to conclude, friends and relatives say a settlement is unlikely and the family is “unlikely to find peace” anytime soon.
Written by: Silvia Sciorilli Borrelli
© financial times