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Umberto Agnelli

Thursday, 27 May 2004 ‡ 19:59

1st November 1934 - 27th May 2004

The newly instated Fiat^? Chairman dies of cancer just over a year after his elder brother, Giovanni "Gianni" Agnelli who died in January 2003.

Umberto Agnelli was the youngest of seven children of a growing automobile dynasty. Umberto grew up in the shadows of his stylish, jet-setting playboy elder brother, Gianni.

Umberto studied law and occupied his free time with the family's soccer club, Juventus. At 22, he was named chairman of the team. Umberto's father died when he was 1 years old, his mother died when he was 11 years old and then his own son, Giovannino died, at the age of 33 with a rare cancer. Giovannino was set to take over Fiat.

In 2000, Fiat struck a deal with General Motors Corp., selling 20% of its auto operations to the Detroit-based automaker with an option to sell the remaining share by 2005. In January 2003, when Giovanni Agnelli died, the family met immediately and named Umberto to take over, as Fiat faced its gravest crisis since its founding in 1899.

By the previous year, the share price of Fiat's auto unit had lost about 80% of its value since a high in 1998. Many speculated that Umberto would be more willing to relinquish the automaker and finally move the Agnellis out of the auto business. They were wrong. Instead, he helped consolidate operations, focussing above all on the auto business.