John Elkann

Key Takeaways

• John Elkann is the chair of Stellantis and the CEO of Exor.
• Elkann was born into the Agnelli family, noted for founding Fiat.
• He played a key role in the merger that formed Stellantis.
• Elkann holds significant stakes in various car brands and the Juventus Football Club.
• Fluent in four languages, he grew up living in multiple countries.1

Who Is John Elkann?

John Elkann is a leading figure in the automotive industry as chairman of Stellantis and CEO of Exor, the Agnelli family's investment company. As the heir to the Agnelli legacy behind Fiat, he helped steer the merger that formed Stellantis from Fiat Chrysler and PSA, extending the family's influence across global auto brands.

John Elkann's Multinational Upbringing and Academic Journey

John Elkann is a member of the powerful Agnelli family that controlled the Italian automaker Fiat. He was born in New York City in 1976. He traveled extensively as a child and lived in several countries, including the United Kingdom, Brazil, France, and Italy. This helped him become fluent in four languages: Italian, English, Spanish, and Portuguese. According to Elkann, his "life was always about being confronted with an environment where you had to adapt.”23

He studied sciences at the Lycée Victor Duruy in Paris and earned an engineering degree from Politecnico di Torino in Turin, Italy in 2001. He held a number of internships that allowed him to see how the automotive industry works.4

These experiences allowed him to see the factory, marketing, and sales aspects of the company. His background included a headlamp factory in the U.K., a production line in Poland, and a car dealership in France. By the time he landed a seat on Fiat’s board in 1997, Elkann was already writing his undergraduate thesis on e-auctions as a part of General Electric’s corporate initiatives group.35

Key Milestones in John Elkann's Career

Elkann is the chair of automakers Stellantis and Ferrari. He is also a board member, chair, and chief executive officer (CEO) of Exor, a holding company that has a stake in both automakers.67

He was raised to take part in the family business under his grandfather Gianni Agnelli's direction. As such, he became a member of Fiat's board in 1997 at the insistence of his grandfather after the death of his cousin, Giovanni Alberto Agnelli.8

In 2004, Elkann became vice-chair of Fiat, a year after his grandfather's death. The company was suffering from the poor reputation its vehicles had when it came to reliability. Elkann worked closely with management and helped to turn the company around. He became chair of the company in 2010 at the age of 36 when Luca Cordero di Montezemolo stepped down.7

Fast Fact

Stellantis owns many famous car brands, including Fiat, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Peugeot, Maserati, Alfa Romeo, and Citroen.9

During his time leading the company, Elkann oversaw the acquisition of Chrysler in 2009. He was also instrumental in the 2021 merger of Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot, which resulted in a new entity named Stellantis. The newly formed company has an industrial presence in about 30 countries as well as commercially in 130 markets.107

Elkann also holds a number of positions outside of his corporate interests in automaking. Exor owns an interest in Juventus Football Club, which gives Elkann a stake in the club. The league, which is based in Turin, was founded in 1897 and is owned by the Agnelli family.117

Who Owns Ferrari?

Ferrari is a public company, which means it is primarily owned by shareholders; however, the largest owner of Ferrari is the Agnelli family, through its holding company, Exor, which owns 22.9% of Ferrari.12

What Famous Family Owns Juventus?

The football club, Juventus FC, is owned by the Agnelli family through its holding company, Exor.