Career
While pursuing his degree in Management Engineering, Elkann gained work experience through several internships: headlight plant in Birmingham, England (1996), production line in Tychy, Poland (1997), car dealership in Lille, France (1998) and also at GE's CIG (corporate initiatives group) where he worked on a thesis on e-auctions (1999).
In December 1997, Elkann was selected by his grandfather Gianni Agnelli to take the place in the family business of Giovanni Alberto - the son of Gianni’s younger brother, Umberto, who had died at the age of 33 – and he was appointed to the Fiat Board at the age of 22.
In 2000, after graduating in Management Engineering from Politecnico di Torino, he joined General Electric’s Corporate Audit program. He left General Electric two years later.
In 2003, he joined IFIL (now Exor) and worked on the turnaround of Fiat Group.
John Elkann was instrumental in the appointment of current Fiat CEO, Sergio Marchionne, in May 2004.
After the deaths of his grandfather Gianni Agnelli (2003) and his great-uncle Umberto Agnelli (2004), Elkann became Vice Chairman of Fiat and Vice Chairman of Giovanni Agnelli & C, the family partnership through which it controls EXOR.
He is also Chairman of Editrice La Stampa, a board member of Fiat Industrial, SGS, The Economist Group and Banca Leonardo.
In addition, he is an active member of various non-profit organizations and think-tanks engaged in the global geopolitical debate, including serving as Vice Chairman of the Italian Aspen Institute and the Giovanni Agnelli Foundation and as a member of the Brookings Institution, MOMA and the Italy-China Foundation.
In 2010, he became Chairman of Fiat S.p.A., succeeding Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, and Chairman of the Giovanni Agnelli e C. Sapaz, succeeding Gianluigi Gabetti. In February 2011, he was appointed Chairman and CEO of EXOR.
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