What is Luca di Montezemolo’s Net Worth and Salary?
Luca di Montezemolo is an Italian businessman who is the former Chairman of Ferrari with a net worth of $350 million. Hailing from an aristocratic Piedmontese family, Luca previously chaired the automotive manufacturing conglomerate Fiat and its luxury sports car brand Ferrari. Among his myriad other activities, Montezemolo served as the president of the Italian employers’ federation Confindustria and is the president of the high-speed train operating company NTV, which he also co-founded.
As Chairman and CEO of Ferrari racing, Luca oversaw 19 world drivers and constructors championships. He also oversaw Ferrari’s rise from an exotic luxury car company to a world-domineering lifestyle brand.
In September of 2014, Montezemolo resigned as Ferrari’s president and chairman, reportedly due to tension between himself and Sergio Marchionne, his intended successor and the CEO of FIAT Chrysler. Less than a year later, in the summer of 2015, his long career in the field of motorsports was ceremoniously rewarded by way of an induction into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.
Early Life and Education
Luca Cordero di Montezemolo was born on August 31, 1947 in Bologna, Italy as the youngest son of Massimo, a Piedmontese aristocrat, and Clotilde, niece of renowned surgeon Vincenzo Neri. Both his grandfather and great-grandfather served as generals in the Italian Army, while his uncle was a commander in World War II. For his higher education, Montezemolo went to the Sapienza University of Rome, where he earned a law degree. He then moved to the United States to attend Columbia University in New York City, from which he obtained a master’s degree in international commercial law.
Fiat and Ferrari
Montezemolo started his career racing with his friend Cristiano Rattazzi in a Giannini Fiat 500. He later drove for the Lancia rally team HF Squadra Corse. Montezemolo went on to join the automotive manufacturing conglomerate Fiat, based in Torino, Italy. Subsequently, in 1973, he joined luxury auto manufacturer Ferrari, where he served as an assistant to racer and entrepreneur Enzo Ferrari. The next year, Montezemolo became the manager of Ferrari’s racing division Scuderia. During his time in that position, Scuderia won the Formula One World Drivers’ Championship in both 1975 and 1977, both times with racer Niki Lauda. Montezemolo was eventually promoted to the head of Fiat’s racing activities, and then to the position of Fiat’s senior manager.
In the 80s, Montezemolo held a variety of roles at subsidiaries of Fiat; among them, he served as the managing director of vermouth brand Cinzano and the director of the publishing company Itedi. Additionally, he managed the yacht racing team Azzurra, the first Italian yacht club to enter the America’s Cup competition, and became the manager of the organizing committee for the 1990 FIFA World Cup. In the early 90s, Montezemolo was named the president of Ferrari, which had been floundering since Enzo’s passing in 1988.
As president, he made it his aim to once again win the Formula One World Championship. In the hopes of accomplishing this feat, Montezemolo appointed Formula One champion Lauda as a consultant and promoted Claudio Lombardi to the role of team manager. His work paid off, as Ferrari’s team won the Constructors’ Championship in 1999 and the World Drivers’ Championship in 2000. Montezemolo went on to become the chairman of Fiat in 2004, a position he held until 2010. Later, in 2014, he resigned as president and chairman of Ferrari.
Ferrari Salary
In his final years at Ferrari, Luca di Montezemolo earned an annual salary of 2.75 million Euros. At the time that was equal to around $3.5 million USD per year. Upon leaving Ferrari, Luca was paid a $35 million severance. He was also awarded a one-time lump sum payment of $17 million to be paid 20 years later, in 2034.
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Formula One Teams Association
In 2008, Montezemolo founded the Formula One Teams Association to give Formula One teams a united voice in negotiations with the FIA governing body. Specifically, the aim was to negotiate the terms of a new commercial contract governing the championship. Montezemolo presided over the association until its formal dissolution in 2014.
Other Ventures
Montezemolo has been involved in a number of other ventures beyond the world of auto racing. From 2004 to 2008, he served as the president of Confindustria, or the General Confederation of Italian Industry. The Italian employers’ federation and national chamber of commerce, the group contains over 113,000 member companies and more than four million individuals. Meanwhile, from 2004 to 2010, Montezemolo was the president of the prestigious Rome university known as LUISS.
In 2006, Montezemolo co-founded and began serving as the chairman of Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori, an Italian open-access high-speed rail company. The first privately-owned, open-access high-speed train operator in Europe, NTV launched its services in 2012. Among his other ventures, Montezemolo formed the liberal-centrist think tank Future Italy in 2009. He used the think tank in 2013 to support incumbent prime minister Mario Monti in the general election. Future Italy became instrumental in the founding of Monti’s Civic Choice party. In 2014, Montezemolo became non-executive chairman of the airline Alitalia, and the year after that became committee president of Rome’s bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Personal Life
Montezemolo married his wife Ludovica Andreoni in 2000. Together, they have five children.
In 2012, Montezemolo got into legal trouble when he had a home constructed without authorization in Anacapri, Italy. As a consequence, he received a suspended sentence of one year in prison.