John Elkann, Copernicus among the Agnellis

Un day, John Elkann smoked a cigarette. He was 28 years old. According to him, this is his first. And his last. He was in Geneva, in a luxury hotel, and flirted. To win over his target, he was ready for anything, putting his good manners aside: grilling one, drinking grappa, and promising his interlocutor happy days. Oh, how hard the hunt was! Despite his rank as head of one of the most powerful Italian families, the Agnelli heir was skating. He was looking, that evening, for the man who was to restore luster to the automobile manufacturer, Fiat, launched in 1899, by the grandfather (Giovanni) of his grandfather (Gianni). Finally, the being courted yielded to the young man with the wavy hair, so “agnelli-esque”. “Yes”, proclaimed his comrade…