Italian businessman Flavio Briatore: biography, personal life, hobbies

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Flavio Briatore is an Italian entrepreneur best known for his successful leadership of the Formula 1, Benetton and Renault teams, which have won the Constructors' Championship three times and their drivers have become world champions four times.

Short biography

Flavio Briatore was born in Verzuolo near Cuneo, Italy, in the Alpes-Maritimes, to a family of primary school teachers. After receiving a diploma in surveying, he began working as an insurance agent. In 1974 he moved to Cuneo, where he worked as a representative of the financial company CONAFI. At the same time, Flavio took up real estate in Sardinia, the resort complex Isola Rossa, which he sold a year later to an entrepreneur from Cuneo. In 1975, Briatore co-founded Cuneo Leasing, the largest leasing company in Italy, which was later acquired by the De Benedetti Group. In 1977, he was appointed Managing Director of Paramatti, the market leader in paint coatings.

Meet Benetton

In 1979, Flavio Briatore moved to Milan, where he worked in the financial group Finanziaria GeneraleItaly. Here he met entrepreneur Luciano Benetton, who would later play a key role in his career.

In the early 80s, Briatore was involved in cases involving gambling. He received a term, but was later amnestied, and in 2010 he was rehabilitated by the Turin court. Briatore fully paid for the damage to the victims.

In the mid-1980s, the Italian entrepreneur was in the United States, where, thanks to his close relationship with Luciano Benetton, he opened several clothing stores and actively promoted Benetton's expansion into the United States market.

Formula 1

Flavio Briatore attended a Formula 1 race for the first time during the Australian Grand Prix in 1988. A year later, Luciano Benetton appointed him Commercial Director of Benetton Formula Ltd (formerly Toleman), based in England. Shortly thereafter, Briatore was appointed Managing Director and turned Benetton into a competitive team. The Formula 1 manager brought a unique and innovative management style: he considered motor racing not only a sport, but above all a spectacle and business, so he focused on marketing and communication as key elements in order to attract we althy sponsors and prestigious partners.

Briatore hired and quickly fired engineer John Barnard. Tom Walkinshaw took his place and together they began to restructure Benetton. In 1991, Briatore quickly and farsightedly recruited young driver Michael Schumacher from Jordan and began to build a team around the talentedGerman. In 1994, Schumacher won the drivers' championship, and then Briatore managed to form a strategic alliance with Renault, which gave Benetton an extra edge the following season with a very powerful engine. In 1995, the team achieved a double success when Schumacher won the World Drivers' Championship and Benetton Formula won the Constructors' Championship.

In 1993, Briatore created FB Management, a search and management agency for race car drivers, which over the years has served such talented drivers as Giancarlo Fisichella, Jarno Trulli, Robert Kubica, Max Webber and Pastor Maldonado. World champion Fernando Alonso, whom Briatore discovered and placed in the care of his agency in 1999, was only 18 years old.

In late 1994, an Italian entrepreneur bought the French Ligier team, restructured it, and two years later it won the Monte Carlo Grand Prix with Pani. In 1997, Briatore sold Ligier to Alan Prost, who renamed it Prost Grand Prix (team ceased to exist in 2002).

In 1996 he bought Minardi and a year later he sold it to Gabriela Rumi. In the same year, Michael Schumacher left Benetton for Ferrari.

In 1997, with the consent of the Benetton family, Briatore decided to leave the team, sold his shares in order to finance and run his new project while remaining in Formula 1. He created the company Supertech, which employed 200 people, which became the leading supplier of engines for Formula 1. From 1998 to 2000, Supertech supplied engines to the Benetton, Williams, Bar teamsand Arrows.

Children's shoes and pharmaceuticals

In the mid-90s, Briatore decided to diversify his interests. In 1995, he acquired Kickers, a children's shoe manufacturer, and resold it shortly thereafter. Then in 1998 he bought the small Italian pharmaceutical company Pierrel. It was later acquired by an American group. Thanks to the dynamic and innovative business plan of Briatore and entrepreneur Canio Mazzaro, Pierrel was restructured and in 2006 successfully listed on the Italian stock exchange. A few years later, it became an international company and was included in the list of awards for achievements in the field of clinical research. In 2007, Briatore sold most of his shares, but still owns a small stake in the business.

Luxury business

In 1998, Briatore opened a nightclub on the Emerald Coast: Billionaire ("Billionaire") quickly became a favorite entertainment venue for the world's rich. Within a few years, the institution has gained international fame, becoming synonymous with glamor and quality relaxation. The brand today is a "luxury services" holding that includes night and beach clubs, restaurants, hotels and resorts.

Team Renault

In 2000, Flavio Briatore orchestrated the purchase of Benetton by Renault and was appointed Managing Director of the Renault F1 Team by the French car manufacturer. Two years later, he also became managing director of Renault Sport. An Italian businessman rebuilt a team thatemployed more than 1,100 people working in factories in France and the UK, moderated the budget in its corporate style, optimized internal human resources, and pursued an aggressive marketing and communication strategy. Despite the fact that Renault's budget was 5th among the Formula 1 teams, Renault F1 progressed quickly and in 2005 came to a double victory: Alonso won the Drivers' Championship, and the team received the Constructors' Championship. The same impressive results were repeated in 2006 when Renault F1 won titles in both championships.

GP2 Series

In 2005, Briatore conceived and created the GP2 series, a championship meant to be a training ground and showcase for talented drivers and engineers. In a short time, GP2 has become the most popular and respected series of competitions after Formula 1. Drivers such as Lewis Hamilton, Heiki Kovalainen, Nico Rosberg, Pastor Maldonado and Roman Grosjean have been discovered here.

In 2010, Briatore sold the successful GP2 to the CVC group, which already owned Formula 1.

British football

In 2006, together with Bernie Ecclestone, he acquired the English football team Queens Park Rangers. During the course of the four-year plan, the club rose from the Championship to the Premier League. In 2011, after the first 3 matches in the top division, Briatore and Ecclestone sold the team to Malaysian entrepreneur Tony Fernandez.

Conflict with the FIA

In July 2008 the Formula 1 Team came together to form FOTA. Briatore took over the role of her commercialDirector (appointed by President Luca di Montezemolo) and held talks with the FIA about the future of Formula 1. FOTA asked for cost reductions due to the global economic crisis and the introduction of new rules aimed at increasing the spectacle of the competition. The federation presented its own plan for the 2010 championship, which led to conflict. After a meeting hosted by Briatore at the Renault F1 headquarters on 18 June 2009, the eight FOTA teams rejected the FIA's proposals, decided to secede and organize their own championship. The parties eventually came to an agreement and on June 29 at the World Council, Max Mosley announced his resignation as FIA President, stating that the International Federation would not introduce any changes in 2010.

Suspension and rehabilitation

Not surprisingly, just a month later, the FIA launched an investigation into one of last year's races, the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix. The federation accused Briatore, as head of Renault F1, of forcing driver Nelson Pique Jr. to fake an accident during the race in favor of the victory of his teammate Fernando Alonso. On September 21, 2009, the FIA World Motor Sport Council (despite the confirmation of the victory of Alonso and Renault), removed Flavio Briatore from participation in Formula 1 and conditionally disqualified the Renault team. He sued the International Automobile Federation, demanding to restore his reputation, and on January 5, 2010, a court in Paris annulled his suspension, declaring that the procedure was illegal. The Tribunal also ordered the FIA to pay 15,000 euros in damages to Briatore andruled that he could return to Formula One starting with the 2013 season.

Persecution in Italy

In May 2010, Italian customs officials detained the yacht Force Blue on charges of VAT evasion. The vessel is owned by a company whose beneficiary is Briatore. Prosecutors imputed the fact that the ship was engaged in charter flights. In July, the judge said that Force Blue could resume commercial activity under the control of an authorized manager until the case was closed. The Italian financial police also seized 1.5 million euros from Briatore's bank accounts on charges of tax evasion. However, the prosecutor's office reversed this decision and the amount was immediately returned to its owner.

Global expansion

In 2011, Billionaire Life's international expansion continued on all fronts, including the Italian luxury menswear line Billionaire Couture, launched in 2005. The company is a joint venture with the Percassi business group, and the brand's presence in the global market growing steadily.

In November 2011, Flavio Briatore launched the first branch of his famous nightclub in Istanbul.

In the spring of 2012, the Italian entrepreneur opened the prestigious CIPRIANI Monte Carlo club and two summer clubs in Porto Cervo: Billionaire Bodrum and Billionaire Monte Carlo.

The ambitious Billionaire Resort, a luxury residential development in Malindi on the coast of Kenya, was completed in 2013. Modern and environmentally friendly, the stunning resort is adjacent to the Lion in the Spa HotelSun.

Today, Billionaire Life employs approximately 1,200 people in Europe and Africa.

In April 2013, Briatore gave it a new direction by selling most of its "leisure and entertainment" divisions, including Billionaire clubs in Porto Cervo, Istanbul, Bodrum and Twiga Beach Club to Bay Capital, a prestigious investment fund based in Singapore. The purpose of the alliance is to expand the brand in Asia and the rest of the world.

In September 2012, Briatore starred for the first time in the Italian version of the famous TV show The Apprentice as Boss. The show became a cult hit and a second season was filmed in 2014.

Flavio Briatore and his women

The Italian businessman, who constantly appeared in scandalous novels with top models, including Naomi Campbell and Heidi Klum, who gave birth to his daughter Helen, in 2008 married model Elisabetta Gregoracci. The couple have a son, Falco Nathan, who was born on March 18, 2010.