Paolo Scaroni

Paolo Scaroni
Born
Paolo Scaroni

(1946-11-28) 28 November 1946 (age 77)
Vicenza, Italy
Alma mater
OccupationBusinessman
Board member of
Enel(CEO, 2002–2005)
Eni(CEO, 2005–2014)
A.C. Milan(Board of Members 2017–2018), (Chairman 2018–)
Enel(Chairman, 2023–)

Paolo Scaroni (born 28 November 1946) is an Italian businessman and banker, currently the chairman of Enel and A.C. Milan. Between 2002 and 2014 he has been chief executive officer of Italian energy companies Enel and Eni.[1][2]

Education

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In 1969, Scaroni graduated from Bocconi University of Milan in the field of economics. In 1973, he obtained an MBA from Columbia Business School.[1]

Career

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In 1969, Scaroni joined Chevron Corporation for three years. After obtaining MBA, Scaroni was an associate at McKinsey & Company. In 1973, he joined Saint-Gobain, where he held different positions, culminating with his appointment as president of flat glass division. In 1985, he was appointed CEO of Techint. In 1996, he moved to the United Kingdom to become chief executive officer of Pilkington.[1][3]

Enel and Eni

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From May 2002 to May 2005, he served as CEO of Enel, Italy's leading electricity company.[1] At Enel, Scaroni made a real breakthrough by abandoning the traditional multi-utility corporate model, supported by his predecessor Franco Tatò, in favour of placing greater focus on the core energy business. Under his mandate, Enel created a separate wind energy unit and, for the first time, Enel was included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.[4] In 2005, he was appointed CEO of ENI, the Italian multinational energy company, considered one of the seven world supermajors. In his nine years at ENI, Scaroni reduced the weight of oil in favour of natural gas, seen as an intermediate transition combustible in the path toward even more sustainable sources.[5] In 2012, Eni was included in the Carbon Performance Leadership Index, which scores companies based on their commitment to transparency and environmental leadership.[6] During Scaroni's tenure, ENI's net worth increased from €39 billion to €61 billion. He left his role in 2014.[5]

A.C. Milan

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On 21 July 2018, he became chair (Italian: presidente) of A.C. Milan, after the club was taken over by Elliott Management Corporation. He was one of the eight directors of the club after the takeover by Li Yonghong.[7] In June 2020, Li accused Scaroni of having a conflict of interest in the club's management. Among other issues, Li cited Scaroni's position as deputy chairman of Rothschild Italia (which advised on the acquisition of the club), as well as his prior business relationship with Elliott.[8] Scaroni won the Scudetto Serie A in 2021–2022 as President of A.C. Milan on 22 May 2022, and was confirmed in his position as chairman in September 2022, following the acquisition of Milan by US fund RedBird.[9]

Other current and past roles

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In addition to his executive management position, Scaroni, has or has had numerous non-executive roles, amongst which:

Political and economic views

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Paolo Scaroni has never taken political positions supporting one particular party or coalition, and is considered as having excellent relationship and supporters across the political spectrum.

When questioned on energy transition and sustainability he has often stressed that renewables energy sources alone won't be sufficient to achieve the ambitious CO2 reduction goals that Europe has set. According to Scaroni such goals can only be met if, in addition to the use of renewables, a strong emphasis is put on energy efficiency measures and a pervasive reengineering of industrial processes. He also is an advocate of the use of nuclear energy as a way to reduce CO2.[14]

Honours

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In 2004, Scaroni was decorated as Cavaliere del Lavoro. In November 2007 Scaroni was decorated as a member of the Légion d'honneur.[1][3]

Tangentopoli

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In his career Paolo Scaroni has been involved in a few judicial proceedings. As part of the massive "Tangentopoli" scandal that brought down Italy's post-war political parties, in 1996, Scaroni was sentenced to one year and four months in prison (below the limit of execution of the sentence), and the offence was finally declared extinct by Milan tribunal in 2001.[15]

Subsequently, in his roles as CEO of ENEL and ENI, he was involved in three judicial investigations (ENEL Porto Tolle, ENI/Saipem Algeria, ENI/Shell Nigeria) but, on those, he was definitively acquainted in 2017, 2020, and 2022 respectively.[16][17][18]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Paolo Scaroni, Chief Executive Officer". Eni. Archived from the original on 20 October 2010. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
  2. ^ ENI. "ENI: relazione sul governo societario 2005" (PDF). ENI: Relazione Sul Governo Societario 2005 (in Italian): 72.
  3. ^ a b "Paolo Scaroni". European CEO. 29 September 2009. Archived from the original on 28 July 2021. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  4. ^ ENEL. "Our story". Enel.com.
  5. ^ a b HuffPost (3 April 2014). "Paolo Scaroni parla da ex e critica la direttiva del Tesoro sulle nomine dei vertici delle società pubbliche" [Paolo Scaroni speaks as former and criticizes Treasury directive on top appointments in public companies]. Huffington Post (in Italian).
  6. ^ ENI (13 September 2012). "Eni confirmed in Dow Jones Sustainability World Index". Eni.com.
  7. ^ "AC Milan name Paolo Scaroni new chairman as Elliott take control | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  8. ^ Beresford, Chloe. "Ex-AC Milan Owner Offers New Insight Into Club Sale, Alleging Conflict Of Interest By Paolo Scaroni". Forbes. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  9. ^ "AC Milan: shareholders appoint new board of Directors". AC Milan. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  10. ^ Finanza, MF Milano (27 August 2014). "Scaroni presidente di Giuliani Group – MilanoFinanza.it". MF Milano Finanza (in Italian). Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  11. ^ "Scaroni walks out after boardroom bust up at BAE Systems". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  12. ^ a b "CMi Mentor: Paolo Scaroni". www.chairmentors.com. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  13. ^ "Bocconi, annunciato un International Advisory Council" [Bocconi, International Advisory Council announced]. 9 November 2009.
  14. ^ Manacorda, Francesco (3 September 2021). "Scaroni: "Il nucleare ci serve. Per azzerare le emissioni le rinnovabili non bastano"" [Scaroni: "We need nuclear power. To zero emissions, renewables are not enough."]. La Repubblica (in Italian).
  15. ^ Barbacetto, Gianni; Travaglio, Marco; Gomez, Peter (2002). Mani Pulite – la vera storia [Mani Pulite - the true story] (in Italian). Editori Riuniti. ISBN 9788861905146.
  16. ^ "Porto Tolle, assolti ex vertici Enel – Veneto". Agenzia ANSA (in Italian). 18 January 2017. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  17. ^ "UPDATE 1-Italian appeals court acquits Saipem, Eni in Algerian graft case". Reuters. 15 January 2020. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  18. ^ "Descalzi, Scaroni acquitted in Eni Nigeria case – English". ANSA.it. 17 March 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
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