2014年经济学人 意大利企业 把企业控制权留在家族中

Italian businesses

Keeping it in the family

Patriarchs are reluctant to cede¹ control of the companies they built

RAISED in an orphanage², Leonardo Del Vecchio started selling spectacles in Belluno in northernItalyin 1967. Today his company, Luxottica, owns Ray-Ban and Oakley, the two biggest brands of sunglasses, and has annual sales of 7.3 billion Aged³ 79, Mr Del Vecchio isItaly's second-richest man. He stepped back from management a decade ago. But on September 1st he abruptly⁴ stepped back in. Andrea Guerra, Luxottica's boss, has left. Mr Del Vecchio will head the triumvirate that will replace him.

This is an unusual solution to a problem that faces many Italian firms: ageing patriarchs who are reluctant to bow out or even to plan for the day when they eventually must. Until Mr Del Vecchio's comeback, there had seemed to be somewhat of a trend for founders⁵ and their heirs to hand management to professionals. In 2006 Salvatore Ferragamo, an upmarket shoemaker, hired Michele Norsa to succeed Feruccio Ferragamo, the founder's son. Sergio Marchionne, the boss of Fiat⁶ Chrysler, does not belong to the carmaker's founding family, the Agnellis. Mr Del Vecchio had won praise for picking Mr Guerra over his relatives to run Luxottica.

Smooth handovers are hard to arrange, especially at fashion houses, which struggle to break free from the geniuses who created them. Giorgio Armani, now 80 (pictured, left), has no known succession plan for the company that bears his name. Roberto Cavalli, a designer of slightly younger vintage, has so far failed to find someone to take over. The brand's two most senior non-family managers left in January. A deal to sell his firm to Permira, a private-equity investor⁷, fell apart. Now he is trying to sell a majority stake to VTB, a Russian state-controlled bank, despite VTB being among the firms subject to Western sanctions overRussia's involvement inUkraine.

Mr Guerra had to go, said Mr Del Vecchio, because his views on the firm's strategy had “diverged” from his own. Mr Guerra had expanded Luxottica globally and doubled its profits, though its retail⁸ chains, Sunglass Hut and LensCrafters, had not done as well as expected.

Mr Del Vecchio says he has no plans to hand the management of the firm to his children. If his motives⁹ in shaking up Luxottica's management are indeed primarily financial, minority shareholders¹⁰ will cheer. If they are familial, they will be sceptical, even though some Italian firms are thriving under second- and third-generation bosses. Ermenegildo Zegna, an upmarket tailor, is well-run by the founder's grandson. Michele Ferrero, a confectioner who isItaly's richest man, has handed to his son the job of selling Nutella and Tic Tacs.

Perhaps Mr Del Vecchio could take inspiration from Hermes, a French luxury-goods house that has gone from family to professional management and back without visible strain. Its pedigreed boss, Axel Dumas, took over in February after eight years of management by an outsider. On September 3rd he settled a row with LVMH, a rival that had built a large stake in his company. LVMH now says it will distribute those shares to its shareholders, ending the threat of a hostile bid. Mr Dumas had feared for Hermes's independence, and perhaps for his job. He now looks secure. Mr Del Vecchio must be hoping for an equally sunny outcome.

1 cede   

v.割让，放弃

参考例句：

• The debater refused to cede the point to her opponent.辩论者拒绝向她的对手放弃其主张。
• Not because I'm proud.In fact,in front of you I cede all my pride.这不是因为骄傲，事实上我在你面前毫无骄傲可言。

2 orphanage   

n.孤儿院

参考例句：

• They dispensed new clothes to the children in the orphanage.他们把新衣服发给孤儿院的小孩们。
• They gave the proceeds of the sale to the orphanage.他们把销售的收入给了这家孤儿院。

3 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

4 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

5 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

6 fiat   

n.命令，法令，批准；vt.批准，颁布

参考例句：

• The opening of a market stall is governed by municipal fiat.开设市场摊位受市政法令管制。
• He has tried to impose solutions to the country's problems by fiat.他试图下令强行解决该国的问题。

7 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

8 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

9 motives   

n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• to impeach sb's motives 怀疑某人的动机
• His motives are unclear. 他的用意不明。

10 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任