Former Fiat Chrysler chief executive Sergio Marchionne, credited with saving both Fiat and Chrysler from near-certain failure has died after complications from a shoulder surgery in Zurich, Switzerland, Exor, the holding company of Italian automaker Fiat’s founders, the Agnelli family, announced Wednesday.
He was 66.
At Fiat Chrysler Automobiles headquarters in the Italian town of Turin, flags flew at half-mast, while in Rome the parliamentary committee for labour and finance observed a minute of silence.
“Unfortunately what we feared has come to pass,” Exor chairman and CEO John Elkann said. “Sergio Marchionne, man and friend, is gone.”
The announcement of the death of Marchionne, one of the auto industry’s most tenacious and respected CEOs, drew tributes from rivals and tears from his closest colleagues, a collective grief that overshadowed a big sell-off in Fiat Chrysler shares.
“Saddened to hear about the passing of Sergio Marchionne, a great man and an auto industry legend,” tweeted federal Minister of Innovation and Science Navdeep Bains. “My sincere condolences to his family.”
Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association (APMA), said Marchionne’s passing marked the end of an era.
“This man was an absolute lion. Top of the food chain, head of the pride, lived by his own rules. Revered, respected feared, even hated,” Volpe tweeted.
“To be sure, there are many tigers in the auto world but there was always only one Sergio.”
Born in Italy, grew up in Canada
Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne poses for photographers next to the new Cinquecento Fiat car during a photocall in Turin July 5, 2007. (Alessandro Garofalo/REUTERS/File Photo)
Marchionne was born in Chieti, Italy but his family moved to Canada when he was in his early teens.
He spent his teenage years in Toronto where he studied at the University of Toronto. Marchionne completed a master’s degree in business at the University of Windsor, as well as getting a law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School of York University in Toronto.
Marchionne began his career as a tax accountant and specialist for Deloitte & Touche in Canada, before being propelled into increasingly senior finance and management positions in various companies. In the 1990s, Marchionne moved to Switzerland where he was eventually recruited by Fiat SpA in 2003 and the following year became CEO.
Though lacking in engineering experience, Marchionne quickly returned the troubled car company to financial health by downsizing and restructuring management as well as by speeding the introduction of new models, notably the retro-styled minicar sensation Fiat 500.
In 2009 Marchionne replaced Robert Nardelli as CEO of Chrysler Group LLC, which was placed under bankruptcy protection after being owned by a private equity company that had badly mismanaged the storied U.S. carmaker.
‘He taught us to think differently’
From left, General Motors CEO Mary Barra, Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne and Ford Motor Company CEO Mark Fields speak to reporters after their meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington January 24, 2017. (Kevin Lamarque/REUTERS)
“Sergio Marchionne was one of the most respected leaders in the industry whose creativity and bold determination helped to restore Chrysler to financial health and grow Fiat Chrysler into a profitable global automaker,” said Ford Motor Co Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr.
Daimler Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche in a post on Linkedin said, “The auto industry has lost a real giant. And many of us have lost a very dear friend: Sergio Marchionne.”
Marchionne had fallen gravely ill after what the company had described as shoulder surgery in a Zurich hospital. He was replaced as chief executive last weekend after Fiat Chrysler (FCA) said his condition had worsened.
As Marchionne’s health failed following surgery, a clearly emotional Elkann delivered what amounted to an impromptu eulogy and message of gratitude to a man he called his mentor.
“He taught us to think differently and to have the courage to change, often in unconventional ways, always acting with a sense of responsibility for the companies and their people,” Elkann said over the weekend.
“He taught us that the only question that’s worth asking oneself at the end of every day is whether we have been able to change something for the better, whether we have been able to make a difference.”
With files from The Associated Press and Reuters
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