San Francisco Frontiers - John Elkann: Italian dynasty heir at the helm of Stellantis

The 48-year-old billionaire manages the Agnelli family estate as chief executive of Exor, a holding company with stakes in the Serie A football club, the luxury car company and the business weekly.

The day after embattled Carlos Tavares was ousted with immediate effect from Stellantis on Sunday, Elkann was on a plane to the United States, his home country and once the group's cash cow.

Dealerships there, as in Europe, are now struggling, leaving Stellantis -- like car manufacturers across the board -- in dire straits.

Exor is the main shareholder of Stellantis, a 15-brand behemoth born from the 2021 merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and Peugeot-Citroen (PSA), with a fleet that includes Jeep, Ram, Dodge and Alfa Romeo.

Elkann has taken the helm of a temporary executive committee at Stellantis until Tavares' successor is named. Exor owns a 14.2 percent stake in the automaker.

"For the good of the company, we reached the point where our paths had to separate," he said in a video message to the group's employees, adding that the decision by the board of directors to cut Tavares loose had been "unanimous".

- Determined, hands-on -

Born in New York, Elkann took the leadership role in the family in 2004, a year after the death of his maternal grandfather Gianni Agnelli, who is credited with turning Italian carmaker Fiat into one of Europe's top car brands.

After a childhood in Britain and Brazil, Elkann earned a scientific baccalaureate from a school in Paris before studying engineering in Turin.

A quiet man, he has always shied away from limelight -- unlike his younger brother Lapo -- but proved himself very hands on.

"He has always been an executive and not an honorary chairman, heavily involved in the life of Stellantis," said an industry insider in Turin, Fiat's birthplace.

Elkann learned much of what he knows from Sergio Marchionne, who turned Fiat around when it was struggling in the early 2000s, but who died suddenly in 2018.

"He is reserved, but very determined when it comes to imposing his points of view. Since he emerged from the shadow of Sergio Marchionne, he has asserted himself as a business leader," Giuseppe Berta, former director of Fiat's archives, told AFP.

"He has succeeded in making the Agnellis' legacy flourish," he said.

- Unexpected heir -

The son of the Franco-Italian writer and journalist Alain Elkann, and Gianni Agnelli's daughter Margherita, Elkann was schooled by his grandfather in hard work and risk-taking, but had not expected to become the family's leader.

The early death in 1997 of his cousin Giovanni Alberto Agnelli, his grandfather's original choice as heir, changed everything.

When Elkann was just 21, Agnelli appointed him to Fiat's board of directors.

The young "Jaki", as he was nicknamed, went on a work placement at components manufacturer Magneti Marelli in Britain, on the assembly lines of the "Cinquecento" in Poland, and even in sales in France.

The death of Elkann's grandfather in 2003 and uncle Umberto a year later accelerated his career.

Luca Cordero di Montezemolo became the group's chairman and named Elkann number two.

In 2009, Marchionne and Elkann oversaw Fiat's purchase of a stake in Chrysler, and a year later Elkann took over as chairman.

As boss of the Italian-American Fiat Chrysler, Elkann twice played hard ball with PSA during merger negotiations.

In May 2019, he temporarily sidelined talks with the multinational automotive company to court its rival Renault instead.

Then later that year he cut short negotiations with PSA again in order to protect the interests of Fiat shareholders.

His transformation of a flagship Italian company into a multinational earned him the nickname "Jaki the Conqueror" in Italian media.

The father of three, a football and sailing fan, says his success is down to his "balanced character", though his life is not trouble-free.

He is under investigation by Turin prosecutors following an inheritance dispute with his mother.

S.Hall--SFF