Gerry Cardinale clearly holds AC Milan president Paolo Scaroni in high esteem as he has given him a role right near the top of RedBird Capital Partners.
This morning’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) points to a Financial Times article that they did regarding Cardinale’s operations in the business world and the interview they conducted, which we relayed in full.
In particular, there is a passage in it whereby the FT claim that Cardinale told them how he has recently hired former Goldman Sachs president John Thornton as chair and Italian financier Paolo Scaroni as chair of the international business.
They will join a series of top executives including former top Citi adviser Hamid Biglari as chair of the financial services unit, and former NBCUniversal chief Jeff Shell as chair of the sports and media division.
Scaroni became the president and chairman of AC Milan in 2018 when Elliott Management seized control of the club, while he was the CEO of Enel from 2002-2005 (becoming Chairman last year) as well as the CEO of Eni from 2005-2014.
As La Gazzetta writes, this shows there is a strong bond of trust and esteem between Cardinale and Scaroni, which extinguishes any notion that he will leave Milan soon.
His new position is confirmed on the RedBird website as Scaroni is on the organisational chart as ‘International Chairman’, with a small explanation as part of his profile.
“Paolo Scaroni is the Chairman of RedBird International. Paolo is currently the Chairman of the Enel Group, an Italian multinational manufacturer and distributor of electricity and gas.
“Over the last year, Paolo has worked closely with RedBird in his capacity as Chairman of AC Milan and has joined us formally as the Chairman of our international business which has been growing on the back of our investments in AC Milan, Liverpool FC under Fenway Sports Group, Toulouse FC, and the Rajasthan Royals Indian cricket team.
“Over the course of his 54-year career as an industrialist and banker, Paolo has served as (i) CEO of multiple leading corporations; (ii) Chairman roles at financial institutions and exchanges, including Vice Chairman of the London Stock Exchange; and (iii) on boards for leading universities and institutions in Europe and the U.S.”
Maybe an uninformed opinion. Nevertheless I’ve never understand what does this guy brings to the table for Milan other than being excellent at a** kissing whoever is in charge at the moment.
The fact that these guys thrive prove that there is a sucker born every minute.