Paolo Scaroni, born on 28 November 1946 in Vicenza, Italy, is an Italian businessman and the chairman of A.C. Milan and the former chief executive officer of Italian energy company Eni.
In 1969, Scaroni joined Chevron Corporation for three years. After obtaining MBA, Scaroni was an associate at McKinsey & Company. In 1973, he joined Saint-Gobain, where he held different positions, culminating with his appointment as president of flat glass division. In 1985, he was appointed CEO of Techint. In 1996, he moved to the United Kingdom to become Chief Executive Officer of Pilkington. From May 2002 to May 2005, he served as CEO of Enel, Italy's leading electricity company. At Enel, Scaroni made a real breakthrough by abandoning the traditional multi-utility corporate model, supported by his predecessor Franco Tatò, in favour of placing greater focus on the core energy business. Under his mandate, Enel created a separate wind energy unit and discontinued the roll out of the Enel Sì branded franchise. From 2005 to July 2006, he was chairman of Alliance Unichem. He also became the CEO of Eni in June 2005. He left the role in April 2014. In April 2014, he was found guilty of environmental crimes during his career as the CEO of Enel. Scaroni was non-executive director of Assicurazioni Generali, non-executive deputy chairman of London Stock Exchange Group, and non-executive director of Veolia Environnement circa 2010.
A.C. Milan
On 21 July 2018 he became chairman of A.C. Milan after the club was taken over by Elliott Management Corporation. He was one of the 8 directors of the club after the takeover by Li Yonghong.
Social activities
From 1997 to 1999, Scaroni was President of the Vicenza football team. He is a member of the board of overseers of the Columbia Business School. In addition to this, he is in the board of overseers of Fondazione Teatro alla Scala.
Political views
CEO Paolo Scaroni has never taken political positions supporting one particular party or coalition. He often emphasizes that Italy, unlike other countries in Europe, is a land of oil and gas, resources which are not valued enough, in his opinion, because of myopic political views and populist environmentalism. In November 2008, with reference to the Kyoto Protocol and the climate change package Paolo Scaroni claims: "We think that in the short term, with existing technologies and expertise, renewable sources, namely solar and wind, will represent only a small fraction of energy supply. For this reason, at Eni we invest in research, in particular in solar, and we are sure that only a revolutionary technological invention will create renewable resources that can significantly contribute to our energy needs.
Honours
In 2004, Scaroni was decorated with Ordine al Merito del Lavoro. In November 2007 Scaroni was decorated as a member of the Légion d'honneur.
Tangentopoli
In 1992, he pleaded guilty to bribery charges and arrested in connection with an electrical power station project in Brindisi. He was arrested again in 1993. This was part of the massive "Tangentopoli" scandal that brought down Italy's post-war political parties. In 1996, Scaroni was sentenced to one year and four months in prison, but served no time since the sentence was below the limit for going to prison.
