John Elkann

"Re-structuring and modernizing a media business in the current environment is a challenge; if anybody can make it work in Italy, that is John. He has vision with no illusion, a great passion for Italy…"

"John was in exactly the right place at the right time to understand manufacturing at its deepest level — at a cellular level. His apprenticeship culminated in an insight that was critical to Fiat’s su…"

"I learnt not to be desperate in bad times, and I am learning not to be bullish when times are good."

"I was born in New York, then I went to the UK, then I went to Brazil, then I went to France, then I studied in Italy. My life was always about being confronted with an environment where you had to ada…"

"He is extremely intelligent and has a great sense of responsibility. I've seen, in the past few years, he has managed several crises with extreme dignity and wisdom."

"Many things are linked to being able to live with uncertainty, ...with paradoxes. But this can be a strength of an organisation and a situation."

"The lesson I have learnt is that when a family and a business function, they function together. You have to have a family that works and a business that works and the two will end up working well alon…"

"I am a big believer of what Darwin discovered in the Galapagos, proving that the species most responsive to change will survive over apparently stronger or more intelligent competitors."