Word: benedetti
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...foreign invader wheeled into Brussels last week in a shiny black Mercedes and swept immediately into a jammed press conference. Wearing a gray pinstriped suit and smoking a thin cigar, Carlo De Benedetti, the Italian industrialist, began confidently. "Allow me to introduce myself," he said. "I was born in Turin. I'm 53 years old. I'm not really sure where I live, but it's somewhere between Turin, Milan and airplanes." Then the high-flying entrepreneur proceeded to explain why he wanted to do what many proud Belgians viewed as the unthinkable, to gain control of Societe Generale...
What has happened to the Italian renaissance, the new economic miracle? Observes Olivetti Chairman Carlo de Benedetti: "The party's over" -- although he hastens to add that "the party's over in the world economy." Italy may export truffles to France, but these days it also imports its eggs, milk and even its breadsticks. Worse, the cheap dollar means that Italian shoe and clothing exports are not selling very well in the U.S. Moreover, Italy's trade deficit this year, at more than $6.6 billion, is already twice the 1986 level...
Italians have always joked darkly about government officials as ladri, or robbers, but the return to crisis government this year after a season of stability has touched off questions of confidence about the nation's leadership. Some, like De Benedetti, are still hopeful that Italy will find a way out of its current malaise. "Don't forget," he says, "that Italians bring out their best at times of uncertainty and difficulty." But Pansa is not so sure. "People have grown weary of the political parties, of their talk," he says. "We're simply tired. Italy has changed...
...Benedetti continues to pursue foreign partners. Last week Olivetti announced that Xerox will now market Olivetti's M-24 personal computer in the U.S. and Canada under the Xerox name. Market experts estimate the U.S. firm may sell some 30,000 of the machines a year. At the same time, Rank Xerox, the firm's British operation, will work with Olivetti to produce and market equipment in Europe and Asia...
...attempt to make Olivetti a world leader in electronics seems like a logical corporate strategy. But what about De Benedetti's interest in both electronics and food? The chairman insists that it is a marriage of perfectly suited partners. He notes that the food industry has a low rate of expansion, but great stability and a consistent cash flow. The electronics business, on the other hand, has just the opposite: a rapid rate of growth, but also high risk. Says De Benedetti: "The two activities, in a sense, are perfectly integrated...