21/07/2018
NEWS STORY
Ferrari has announced that John Elkann has been appointed company chairman as Sergio Marchionne retires due to ill health.
A brief statement issued in the wake of today's meeting of the board, read as follows:
"The Board of Directors of Ferrari NV learned with deep sadness during its meeting today that Chairman and CEO Sergio Marchionne will be unable to return to work.
The Board's thoughts are with Sergio Marchionne and his family and it is grateful for the extraordinary contribution he has made in recent years at the helm of Ferrari.
The Board has named John Elkann as Chairman and will propose to Shareholders, at a meeting to be called in the coming days, that Louis C. Camilleri be named as CEO.
The Board has also given Louis C. Camilleri the necessary powers to ensure continuity of the company's operation."
While Marchionne was scheduled to retire "early" next year, the move has been brought forward following the discovery of "serious complications".
Elkann (pictured with Marchionne), a 42-year-old Italian-American, is the grandson of Gianni Agnelli, former head of the Fiat empire, who chairs Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, which owns the Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Fiat, Lancia and Maserati brands.
He is also chairman and CEO of Exor, an investment company controlled by the Agnelli family, which controls Ferrari, Partner Re, CNH Industrial and Juventus F.C.
Meanwhile, Louis Carey Camilleri, a former chairman of tobacco company Philip Morris International, owner of Ferrari sponsor Marlboro, will take on the role of CEO at Ferrari.
In his time at Ferrari, Marchionne ruffled feathers, both within the company and in F1.
A clash with Luca di Montezemolo saw the company's long-serving chairman leave, unhappy at Marchionne's plans to expand production at Ferrari, a move Montezemolo saw as diluting the brand's exclusive value.
Indeed, Marchionne split the Maranello manufacturer into a separate trading company, resulting in a considerable financial return for the Agnelli family and other shareholders.
It was Marchionne also who clashed with Liberty Media over its plans for Formula One, both in terms of the engine regulations and the redistribution of the prize money.
Check out our Saturday gallery from Hockenheim, here.