Italian businessman
Flavio Cattaneo | |
|---|---|
| Born | () 27 June (age&#;61) Rho, Italy |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Spouse | |
Flavio Cattaneo (born 27 June ) is an Italian manager, non-executive vice president of Italo - Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori, the first private company operating high-speed trains in Europe, and member of the board of Assicurazioni Generali. He is CEO and General Manager of Enel and vice chair of Endesa.
A graduate in architecture from the Polytechnic University of Milan, Cattaneo received a specialisation in business finance and management in the real estate sector at SDA Bocconi School of Management.[1] From to he served as CEO of various Italian companies in the building and real estate sectors. From to , Cattaneo was director of several energy companies, including AEM S.p.A. (now A2A) as deputy chairman, in which he was in charge of the gas distribution activities in the northeast of Italy as CEO of Triveneta Gas S.p.A. and Seneca Gas S.p.A. From to , he was chairman and CEO of Fiera Milano S.p.A., the leading exhibition group in Italy, of which he oversaw its stock listing in Before the IPO, he followed the spin-off between the institutional activities of the foundation and the market activities in charge of the S.p.A., which expanded internationally with an increase of its international presence in over 30 countries.
From to Cattaneo was nominated general director of Rai. He was the youngest managing director of RAI S.p.A., the Italian public service broadcaster. The next year, under his leadership, the company gained its highest revenue ever.[2]
From to , Cattaneo was also chairman of the Brazilian subsidiary TERNA Partecipaçoes, a private electricity grid operator. During that period, the subsidiary was listed on the BOVESPA Stock Exchange and became the first private grid operator in Brazil.
From to , Cattaneo was CEO of the infrastructure company Terna S.p.A., the Italian electricity transmission grid operator and the leading independent grid operator in Europe. During his management tenure, he developed an international expansion strategy in South America and in the Balkans, doubling the value of the stock price, and leading to the company recognized internationally as the best utility stock in Europe for total shareholder return (Edison Electric International Award Washington D.C., periods from to and from to ). He also served on the board of directors of several companies: Generali Assicurazioni (independent director, from December to April ); Domus Italia (chairman, from March to May ); and Cementir Holding S.p.A. (independent director and member of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee and Control and Risks Committee, from January to April ).
From February to April , Cattaneo was CEO of NTV S.p.A. the first Italian private railway operator in the high-speed railway market (over 90% of sales made via web site CRM). During his time as CEO, NTV achieved positive net income for the first time since inception.
From March to July Cattaneo held the title of CEO of Telecom Italia, replacing the resigning Marco Patuano.[3] While he was CEO, Telecom Italia experienced improved growth and efficiency, including completing a major and extraordinary turnaround of the business via a major reorganization of internal processes, efficiency plans on non-core costs, and revenue plans. This resulted in the company increasing its customer and revenue numbers to levels not reached in the last 10 years, increasing its core investments, bringing the company back to leading the mobile segment in downloads, and covering around 70% of the country with fibre. Before his appointment as CEO, he was already on the board of directors as an independent director since April ; he also served as member of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee until March
Cattaneo's responsibilities at Telecom Italia were related to the overall management of the society and the group, being in charge of conceiving and implementing strategic, financial, and industrial plans. He also had organizational responsibilities, in charge of managing and developing Italian and South American business.[4][5]
During Cattaneo's tenure, the development of the [6] business plan included the growth and improved efficiency of the group. The results of this plan were visible in the second and third quarters of , when Telecom Italia registered results in the domestic market not equalled since [7] +1,4% of consolidated returns, +8,5% of the group's Ebitda, +1% of domestic business unit revenue, and an overall return of €1 billion (vs € million gained in the same period of ).
Cattaneo returned to Italo-Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori as CEO, from September to December [8] In February , Cattaneo finalized the sale of Italo to GIP – Global Infrastructure Partners (an American fund that focuses its investments on three main sectors: energy, transportation and water/waste) for an enterprise value of € billion,[9] reinvesting in the company, and remaining a shareholder.[10] From December , Cattaneo has served as executive deputy chairman and chairman of the executive committee of Italo - Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori.[11]
In May , he was appointed CEO and General Manager of Enel.[12] In June , he was also appointed Vice Chair of Endesa.[13]
Cattaneo received various national and international recognition. In he was nominated Best Italian Manager in the energy sector; in , Man of the Year by the newspaper Staffetta Quotidiana; in Manager of the Year by magazine Milano-Finanza's survey, highlighting the improvement made in Telecom Italia Group from an industrial point of view;[14][15] and the Lombard Elite list for having improved Italy's competitiveness.
Cattaneo has been a member of the Giunta of industrial association Confindustria and Vice President of the Industrials of the City of Rome.
He is Knight of Labour.
Flavio Cattaneo earned a bonus of €25 million as CEO at Telecom Italia; this has been stated by some market economy analysts as an unfair bonus, because of the company's high debt load, estimated at €26 billion.[16]
Cattaneo is married to the Italian actress Sabrina Ferilli.