Andrea Agnelli


Andrea Agnelli is an Italian businessman and chairman of Italian football club Juventus F.C. Since 2012, he has also served as Executive Member and Chairman of the European Club Association, and was also appointed to the UEFA Executive Committee since 2015. He is a member of the industrialist Agnelli family. He is also a board member of FIAT and Exor.

Early life

Agnelli is the son of late Juventus F.C. chairman and senator of the Italian Republic Umberto Agnelli, CEO of Fiat from 1970 to 1976, and Donna Allegra Caracciolo di Castagneto, first cousin of Marella Agnelli, born Donna Marella Caracciolo di Castagneto and daughter of Filippo Caracciolo, 8th Prince di Castagneto, 3rd Duke di Melito, and a hereditary Patrician of Naples. Marella, widow of Agnelli's uncle Gianni, and Allegra and, therefore, Andrea, are both members of an old Neapolitan noble family that hold the titles of Prince of Castagneto and Duke of Melito, among others.
Andrea was the last male member of the family to carry the Agnelli surname until the birth of his son Giacomo. He studied at St Clare's in Oxford, England, and then at Bocconi University in Milan.

Career

After university, Agnelli started his career in the business world in England and France at companies including Iveco and Auchan Hypermarché. He also spent several years in Switzerland working in marketing and development for Ferrari Idea S.A. and Lausanne-based Philip Morris International.

Juventus F.C.

In May 2010 he was appointed Chairman of the board of directors of Juventus by his first cousin John Elkann, becoming the fourth member of the Agnelli family to run the football club after his father, his uncle and his grandfather. Elkann had come under criticism from Juventus fans for the club's poor results during the 2009–10 season and many ultras saw Agnelli as the "rightful" heir due to his family's long-time association with the club. Despite entering the job during a period when the club was still dealing with the aftermath of the infamous Calciopoli scandal, he is credited with overseeing the club's transition into the new stadium and balancing their finances in wake of the ongoing recession ravaging Italy. One of his first acts as new chairman was to appoint Sampdoria duo Giuseppe Marotta as Director of Sport and Luigi Delneri as new coach.
On 22 May 2011, Agnelli appointed former captain and fan favourite Antonio Conte as the new manager of Juventus, replacing Delneri. The same season Juventus won the first scudetto undefeated under Agnelli. Since then, Juventus won seven scudetti in a row as of 2017–18, a record in Serie A, including four Coppa Italia titles in a row since 2014–15.
On 8 September 2015, Agnelli was re-elected as a member of the European Club Association executive board, a position he has held since 2012. He was also appointed by the executive board to join the UEFA Executive Committee on behalf of the association, to represent its 220 member clubs alongside re-elected chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge for 2015–17.

Legal troubles

In 2014, some of Juventus' senior management, including Agnelli, were investigated by the Public prosecutor's office of Turin on the management of tickets at the Juventus Stadium, about the alleged infiltration of the 'Ndrangheta in the commercial management of the company's tickets; the public ministers of Turin did not formalise criminal charges against Juventus or its members, closing the investigation three years later with a filing request as there were no links between the Juventus management and the groups and/or individual people involved in organised crime. On 18 March 2017, following the opening of a lawsuit by a prosecutor from the Turin Public Prosecutor's Office, Agnelli was referred by the FIGC's Attorney General along with three other club executives. The following 15 September, the FIGC reformulated its allegations, excluding a presumed Mafia association from the members of the incriminated club after the prosecutor Giuseppe Pecoraro's intervention to the Antimafia Commission in April; the prosecutor asked for sanctions for the meetings of Agnelli with ultra groups and the sale of the tickets by the rest of the offenders beyond the limit allowed per person. On 25 September, Agnelli was banned for one year and fined €20,000, while Juventus were fined €300,000 for selling tickets to ultras, however alleged connections to organised crime were not present in the ruling. On 18 December, Agnelli's ban was lifted, however he was required to pay a €100,000 fine, while the fine against Juventus doubled to €600,000.

Personal life

On 27 August 2005 he married Emma Winter in a Roman Catholic ceremony in Villar Perosa at the church of San Pietro in Vincoli. The wedding reception was held at Villa Agnelli, Donna Marella Agnelli's estate in Villar Perosa. The couple have two children: Baya Agnelli and Giacomo Dai Agnelli.