Stefano Pessina


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Stefano Pessina (born June 4, 1941)[3][4] is an Italian-born Monegasque billionaire businessman and the vice chairman, chief executive officer (CEO), and the single largest shareholder of Walgreens Boots Alliance.[2][5][6][7]

Stefano Pessina

Stefano Pessina, 2010

BornJune 4, 1941 (age 83)

Pescara, Italy

NationalityMonegasque[1]
Alma materPolytechnic University of Milan
OccupationBusinessman
Years active1966–present
TitleVice chairman and CEO, Walgreens Boots Alliance
Term2015 – present
Board member ofWalgreens Boots Alliance
SpouseBarbara Pessina (divorced)
PartnerOrnella Barra (life partner for over 30 years)
Children2
Websitewww.stefanopessina.com

Early life

Pessina was born in Pescara and grew up between Milan, Como and Naples.[4]

He graduated from the Polytechnic University of Milan in nuclear engineering.[5][8]

Career

In 1977, he took over his family's pharmaceutical wholesaler in Naples and turned it into Alliance Santé, a Franco-Italian pharmaceutical wholesale group.[2][5][9] In 1997, it merged with Alliance UniChem, and he joined its board of directors.[5][9][7] From 2001 to 2004, he served as its CEO.[9] He served as deputy chairman, and later as chairman.[9]

Pessina was chairman of Alliance Boots from 2007 to 2014 and a director of Walgreens until August 2014.[5] He is a director of Walgreens Boots Alliance.[9][10] He is a director of the Consumer Goods Forum.[5][11]

Personal life

Pessina divorced his wife, with whom they have two adult children.[12] She is the cousin of the architect Richard Rogers.[13] They met at university and married shortly thereafter.[13] She still resides in Milan, in the palatial apartment where they brought up their two children.[13]

He has also been the romantic partner of Ornella Barra for over 30 years. They met in 1985, as she was just beginning her career. She is 13 years his junior and shares his Monaco residence and work schedule, acting as co-chief operating officer of Walgreens Boots Alliance.[14]

As of February 2015, he is worth US$11.4 billion, owning around 15% of Walgreens Boots Alliance.[2]

He has lived in Monte Carlo, Monaco, for many years.[4]

In 2016, he was named in the Panama Papers.[15]

His son Jacopo Pessina, 36, serves as Director M&A and Healthcare Innovation International at Walgreens Boots Alliance.[citation needed]

UK Labour Party "catastrophe"

In a 31 January 2015 interview for The Sunday Telegraph, Pessina commented on the prospect of Britain's Labour Party winning the UK general election in May 2015, "If they acted as they speak, it would be a catastrophe ... The problem is would they act that way or not? One thing is to threaten and to shout but it is completely different to be in charge and to manage the country day-to-day." He described Labour’s business policies as "not helpful for business, not helpful for the country and in the end it probably won’t be helpful for them".[16] The Sunday Telegraph noted that Pessina "declined to elaborate on which specific policies he disliked".[16]

On Sunday 1 February, Labour's shadow Business Secretary Chuka Umunna, responded in The Independent, "The British people and British businesses will draw their own conclusions when those who don’t live here, don’t pay tax in this country and lead firms that reportedly avoid making a fair contribution in what they pay purport to know what is in Britain’s best interest."[17] On 2 February, in a live Q&A session with Sky News, the Labour Party leader Ed Miliband said, "The chairman of Boots lives in Monaco and doesn't pay British taxes ... I don't think people should take kindly to being told how to vote by someone who avoids paying his taxes."[18]

On 2 February, Walgreens Boots Alliance stated, "The comments made by Stefano Pessina were a small part of a much larger conversation and have been taken out of context ... Stefano Pessina was expressing his personal views only and is not campaigning against Ed Miliband or the Labour Party."[19] On 6 February, Allister Heath, deputy editor of The Telegraph, described the "attacks" by Labour and Liberal Democrat politicians on Pessina, "one of the world’s greatest entrepreneurs", as being "as nonsensical as they were indefensible".[20]

References

  1. ^ "Board of directors". Galenica.com. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d "The World's Billionaires: Stefano Pessina". Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  3. ^ "Stefano PESSINA". Companies House. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  4. ^ a b c Hooper, John. "The secretive world of the Italian tycoon who is stalking Boots". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  5. ^ a b c d e f "About Stefano Pessina". Stefanopessina.com. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  6. ^ [1] Archived 28 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ a b Andrea Felsted, Dealmaking flair of Alliance Boots head. The Financial Times, 22 June 2012
  8. ^ Sideri Massimo, Pessina, signore delle farmacie che tenta la scalata in Europa, Corriere della Sera, 1/2/2014
  9. ^ a b c d e https://web.archive.org/web/20140328065008/http://www.allianceboots.com/about-us/our-directors/stefano-pessina.aspx. Archived from the original on 28 March 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2014. ;
  10. ^ "Today's Stock Market News and Analysis". Nasdaq.com. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  11. ^ "History of The Consumer Goods Forum". Theconsumergoodsforum.com. Archived from the original on 31 August 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  12. ^ http://www.repubblica.it/economia/affari-e-finanza/2016/06/20/news/ornella_barra_dalla_liguria_allimpero_globale_delle_farmacie-142477701/
  13. ^ a b c "PressReader.com - Connecting People Through News". www.pressreader.com. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
  14. ^ "Work is the drug that keeps Boots billionaire on song". The Sunday Times. November 2012.
  15. ^ "Panama Papers, altri 100 nomi: spuntano Galliani, Barilla, Pessina, Berlusconi e Briatore. E Verdone si difende: "Sono onesto, datemi fiducia"". LaStampa.it. April 14, 2016. Archived from the original on April 17, 2016.
  16. ^ a b Ruddick, Graham (31 January 2015). "Labour government will be catastrophic for Britain, warns Boots boss". The Sunday Telegraph. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  17. ^ Bawden, Tom (1 February 2015). "Boots boss Stefano Pessina (who lives in Monaco) branded a 'disgrace' for attack on Ed Miliband". The Independent. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  18. ^ "SUBC: Miliband Attacks Boots Boss Over Tax". Sky News. 1 February 2015. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  19. ^ Grice, Andrew (2 February 2015). "Ed Miliband: 'Boots boss Stefano Pessina should pay his taxes'". The Independent. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  20. ^ Heath, Allister (6 February 2015). "These attacks against Stefano Pessina are unfair and must end". The Telegraph. Retrieved 16 February 2015.