Ferretti, Piero Ferrari leaves by slamming the door

Piero Ferrari, vice-president of Ferretti, the group specialising in the construction of luxury yachts that also controls the Riva brand, is leaving, slamming the door.

In spite of the fact that, in less than 12 hours, his term of office would have expired in any case, as today, 14 May, the shareholders' meeting for the rerenewal of the board of directors will take place.

In a letter drafted in English, so that it is well understandable to international shareholders, including the relative majority shareholder, the Chinese Weichai (39.5%), the entrepreneur and manager, the son of Enzo Ferrari, turns his back - although saying he "loves it deeply" - on the company whose Strategic Product Team he has led for years, since 2013. He adds: 'I can no longer associate my name and the history that my name represents, for Italian industry, with this company'.

'I tender my resignation,' reads the missive addressed to the board and the board of auditors, 'as vice-president and member of the board of directors, effective immediately'. But, it continues, 'I cannot help but express to the board and the auditors my frustration and disappointment at what has happened in recent weeks'.

The reference is to the shareholder battle between Weichai, on the one hand, and Kkcg, the Czech company led by Karel Komàrek, on the other, which has put forward a partial takeover bid on Ferretti shares (to which Ferrari himself has adhered), with the aim of confirming the group's outgoing board, administered by Alberto Galassi.