Carlo De Benedetti

Carlo De Benedetti (born 14 November 1934) is an Italian industrialist, engineer, and publisher. He is both an Italian and naturalized Swiss citizen. He was awarded the Order of Merit for Labour by the Italian state in 1983, the Medaglia d'oro ai benemeriti della cultura e dell'arte (gold medal of culture and art) and the Legion d'Honneur in 1987.

De Benedetti is chairman of the Rodolfo De Benedetti Foundation (Fondazione Rodolfo Debenedetti) in Milan, which he founded in 1998 in memory of his father. It promotes research into economic policy decisions regarding the labour market and welfare systems in Europe. In 2020, De Benedetti spent €10 million setting up Domani, a new liberal newspaper headquartered in Rome.

Early life

Born into a wealthy Jewish family on 14 November 1934, Carlo De Benedetti is the brother of Italian senator Franco Debenedetti, whose surname is different owing to a spelling error. In 1943, during the World War II, the De Benedetti family fled to Switzerland. After returning to Italy, he received a degree in electrical engineering from the Polytechnic University of Turin, and in 1959 began to work in his father's manufacturing business, the Compagnia Italiana Tubi Metallici Flessibili. He helped improve company profits consistently and in 1972 acquired the Gilardini company, of which he became president and CEO until 1976.