The Italian Agnelli family can be said to be a family that is "rich and invincible". Lapo Elkann, the noble son of the family, is one of the most topical figures in the family.
He is the brother of The Exor Holdings, owned by the Agnelli family, the younger brother of John Elkan, the head of the Serie A giants Juventus F.C.
(John left, right Rappo)
In 1997, his older brother John was appointed heir by his grandfather, Janie Agnelli, the previous head of the Agnelli family. In the early 00s, Labo followed in the footsteps of his brother and joined the family group as the marketing director of its Fiat company, holding a large stake.
(From left: Rappo, John, Jani)
However, compared with his brother's calm and low-key personality, his younger brother Labo has not tossed less in the past 20 years. Because of his unique vision of fashion and design, he has revolutionized Fiat's brand image and has repeatedly topped the list of the world's best dressed men, but scandals such as prostitution, drug addiction and pretending to be kidnapped have also continued.
For many Chinese readers, the first time they heard Lapo's name was probably because of his love affair with Chinese actress Zhu Zhu between 2012 and 2013.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="19" > "The Kennedy Family of Italy"</h1>
In Italy, the Agnelli family is a symbol of wealth and glory, a royal figure. However, this family is also known as the "Kennedy family of Italy" by the English-speaking world because of the ill-fated fate of many family members.
In 1865, the businessman Eduardo Agnelli I married the aristocratic Lady Annishita, the eldest son of the two, Giovanni Agnelli, and founded the Fiat Automobile Company in 1899. From cars and trains to later ship engines and aircraft engines, and because of the close relationship with Mussolini's government during World War II, the Agnelli family accumulated great wealth.
But Giovanni's son, Eduardo II, died in 1935 in an air crash at the age of 43. The task of succession can only fall on the head of the third generation.
(Eduardo II, who died prematurely)
After World War II, the Agnelli family was expelled from Fiat by the new government, but Giovanni's grandson Jani successfully regained control of Fiat in 1966, and during his reign for more than 40 years, he developed Fiat into the most important car company in Italy and Europe, holding absolute control of well-known car brands such as Ferrari and Maserati.
Fiat, led by Gianni, once accounted for 4.4% of Italy's GDP. In addition to cars, he turned the Agnelli family into a supergroup that combines aviation, telecommunications, insurance, finance, media and other industries.
Giani was the richest man in Italy's modern history, with a family holding 52.99% of Exor Holdings, one of Europe's largest investment companies.
In 2019, Exor generated revenues of €143.8 billion. In 2020, it ranked 28th in the world's top 500.
When Jani was young, his appearance was very good, coupled with the fact that he had a lot of art, he was the most topical playboy in the 60s and 70s.
Except in 1953 married Princess Marella of the Caracciolo family of Italy
He also had an affair with Mrs. Kennedy, Jacqueline, American actress Rita Hayworth and many other celebrities.
Such a talented business emperor has not escaped the "family curse". He and his princess wife had a son and a daughter, and at first he was bent on raising his eldest son, Eduardo III, as his successor.
Who would have thought that this grandfather, who died early in the air crash, was born in 1954, the fourth generation of heirs who never married, was sensitive by nature, and was keen on spiritual practice. While studying at Princeton University in the United States, he studied modern literature and Eastern philosophy, and after graduation, he went to India and Iran to pursue religion.
On the far right, after converting to Islam, Eduardo III attended a worship service in Tehran in 1981.
Jani has been trying to "straighten out" his son for many years, and there are many contradictions between father and son. In the end, he had to abandon the fourth generation and turn his attention to his young daughter Margarita, who was a year younger than his brother, and her two sons.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="146" > the fifth generation of Agnelli</h1>
In 1975, Margarita married Alain Elkann, the son of a wealthy American businessman of Jewish and Italian descent, and after marriage, she bore three children, the most mentioned eldest son John, the second son Rabo, and the youngest daughter Ginevra.
(Three siblings and father)
When Eduardo III converted to Islam in 1981, his nephews John was 5 years old, Rabo was 4 years old, and Ginefra was only 2 years old, and there was still a long way to go before he became the fifth generation of heirs. Jani continued to run the Agnelli family until 1997, when he named his eldest grandson, John, who had just turned 31, as his future successor.
But Jani also did not expect that in the third year after giving up his only son and replacing it with his eldest grandson, something happened to his son. Bad news came in 2000 that 46-year-old Eduardo III committed suicide by driving a bridge in Turin. Because of his death, the young fifth generation of the Agnelli family came to the front of the stage early.
(Elkan Brothers and Princess Grandmother)
The three siblings grew up in England and Brazil, and were later taken to Paris by their parents to study, and they were proficient in the four Chinese of Italian, French, English and Portuguese. His successor, John, was also the first of the three siblings to enter the family management, and at the age of 21, when he was still studying engineering management at the University of Turin, he had become a member of Fiat's board of directors.
Compared with his sturdy brother John, who dabbled in the family business earlier, Rappo, born in 1977, did not work in the marketing department of the family's Ferrari and Maserati until he was 24 years old in 2001.
In 2003, the cheerful and lively Labo officially became Fiat's marketing director, holding an important stake. With the marketing concept of designing peripheral clothing, water glasses, watches, suitcases, chocolates, etc., he has innovated the image of Fiat, and because of his keen socialization, he has turned himself into a walking Fiat signboard.
However, perhaps the "Kennedy-like family curse" has come to the fifth generation. Since entering the public eye in the early 00s, rumors surrounding Rappo's private cocaine addicts have been ongoing. In the end, the media got the "real hammer".
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="147" > drug use is repeatedly mired in death</h1>
In October 2005, in a hotel room in Turin's red light district, Labo, who was dying of an overdose of drugs, was taken to the hospital by ambulance and recovered a life. At the time, Vanity Fair reported that Rappo had been drugged with a 53-year-old transgender prostitute.
After the news of the prostitute transgender prostitute + drug addiction and death spread, it detonated the Italian media, and even the newspapers of the Agnelli family reported on The Rapo affair. Under pressure, he quit his job at Fiat and temporarily left Italy for the United States.
But the nobleman will not disappear, and in 2007, Rapo returned to Italy and started his own clothing brand and media company. After all, there are still large shares in family businesses, and how to "play" has capital support.
He designed sunglasses and clothes, invited endorsements from big stars, and cooperated with Gucci across borders to expand his popularity with family resources, successfully made famous brands, and even successfully listed the company on the Milan Stock Exchange in 2013.
(with Galeries Lafayette)
In this way, Labo is indeed a rich fifth generation with a bit of business brains. But in an interview, he always insisted on being a "poor mentality" and "the company started from scratch and had nothing", which made people powerless to complain.
Emmm... Good one has nothing.
Everyone loves and hates him, on the one hand, the fashion media selects him as the most fashionable boy to wear in Italy and even in the world, and on the other hand, he is not accustomed to his Versailles remarks of "why not eat meat".
However, after his death in 2005, Rapo did not have a major problem with drug use. But who can predict that in 2016, the noble prince who had regained the favor of the Italian people had another accident.
On November 27, 2016, the media suddenly broke the heavy news of Lapo's abduction in New York.
Mr. Rapo reportedly reportedly called the New York Police Department in the middle of the night, saying he had been imprisoned in an apartment in Manhattan by a 29-year-old transgender prostitute who had been extorted $10,000 in cash, hoping that the police could help the Agnelli family in Italy for money.
The police who rushed to the scene quickly debunked Rappo's lies and found his second mobile phone pretending to text the bodyguards to tell him that he had been kidnapped, and to educate the other party on how to bring cash over the "kidnapping" text messages.
The truth of the story is very simple, Rapo was not kidnapped at all, but because of the re-prostitution and drug use, the cash drug money was not enough, in order to let the family rush to send cash to come up with the "fake kidnapping" lie. Police arrested him along with transgender prostitutes at the scene on false charges of kidnapping, and it was not until January 25, 2017, that he was released after paying a fine.
"Crazy" into this, the Agnelli family can not save Rabo's public relations image. Shortly after his return to Italy, he announced that he had retired all his social media accounts and entered a period of reflection.
In the same year, because of the scandal, the stock price of Rapo's listed company plummeted from 40 euros to 4.4 euros, and finally his brother John gave charcoal in the snow, injected capital and cleaned up the mess for his brother. Or as mentioned earlier, and then toss, there is also a huge family capital to support the bottom.
In the four years of introspection, Lapo's tossing and turning has decreased a lot. He put his energy back into business and added things like custom design for cars. During the epidemic last year, we also did a lot of fundraising and charity activities.
Drug addicts and prostitutes, almost dying, this nobleman who is born into a rich family, full of controversy, saying that he is "self-made", and "I don't follow the trend, I have my own style", it is really difficult to say...