Born in Milan in 1958, he took his degree in Economics and Commerce from the Università L. Bocconi in 1983.

He began his career with Pirelli, where he held a series of positions in the areas of Management Control, Strategic Planning, Investment Evaluation and New Business Initiatives Management. In 1994 he became Director of Management Control and Strategic Planning for Pirelli’s Tyre Division, where he remained until 1998 when he was appointed CEO of Pirelli Tyre. Three years later he was named Senior Vice President of Operations, in charge of the industrial and logistical structures of Pirelli’s Tyre Division.

In 2002 he moved to TIM as Chief Financial Officer, then after a brief stint as Assistant to the President of Telecom Italia the following year, in June he became General Director of Telecom Italia Wireline. When TIM and Telecom Italia merged in 2005, he was named General Director of the conglomerate.

From January 2007 to December 2008 he was President of Medhelan Management & Finance, and Senior Advisor for Nomura.

In January 2009 he became General Director of the Municipality of Milan, and as of July 2010 will serve as Chief Executive Officer of Expo 2015 S.p.A.