Papadimitriou stepping down as Pirelli GM, co-CEO

Pirelli and Angelos Papadimitriou, the tyre maker’s general manager and co-CEO, have agreed to end their working relationship. Pirelli hasn’t specified the date on which Papadimitriou will relinquish these roles, but when he does the duties he performed as general manager and co-CEO will be taken over by Marco Tronchetti Provera, Pirelli’s executive vice chairman and chief executive officer, until a successor is appointed.

Yet this decision doesn’t represent a total parting of ways: In a statement issued on 20 January, Pirelli wrote that although Papadimitriou wishes to further his career elsewhere, he “expressed his desire to continue to support Pirelli” by retaining the position of Director and membership of the company’s Strategies Committee. He also retains ownership of 170,000 Pirelli shares.

Marco Tronchetti Provera has instructed the Pirelli Board of Directors to begin the search for a suitable successor immediately. “I thank Mr Papadimitriou for the commitment generously given in these months of intense activity for the development of the Strategic Plan,” he states. “Mr Papadimitriou confirmed the positive personal characteristics and excellent professional competencies which led to his entry into Pirelli. With Mr Papadimitriou I have begun preliminary talks to evaluate, at the Camfin level, the development together of new investment initiatives also in consideration of the private equity pathway launched by Camfin itself.”

Evaluating new entrepreneurial initiatives

“In the coming weeks, after months of intense work, my managerial role in Pirelli will come to an end,” comments Angelos Papadimitriou. “It is a company with excellent management, well above market standards, and with a clear and winning strategy. I will continue to remain close to Pirelli by maintaining my roles on the Board of Directors and Strategies Committee. Over these months, I have in addition developed a positive personal and professional relationship with Mr. Tronchetti, with whom preliminary talks have begun to evaluate together the development of new entrepreneurial initiatives.”

Pirelli named Angelos Papadimitriou its general manager and co-CEO on 1 August 2020, and at the time it was widely believed that Papadimitriou was being positioned to succeed Tronchetti Provera. Last year the company stated that it aimed to identify a suitable candidate by October 2022 ahead of completing the succession path in the first half of 2023.