Franco Bernabe

Franco Bernabè was appointed CEO of Telecom Italia on 3 December 2007, a role he first held from November 1998 to 1999.

He earned his degree with honours in Economics and Political Science at the University of Turin in 1973, and began his professional career in 1976 as a Senior Economist at the OECD Department of Economics and Statistics in Paris. In 1978, he joined the Planning Department of Fiat as Chief Economist. In 1983, Bernabè joined Eni as an Assistant to the Chairman, and subsequently became the Head of Corporate Planning, Financial Control, and Corporate Development. He led Eni as CEO from 1992 to 1998, achieving a significant turnaround and successful privatisation of the company.

After his initial tenure at Telecom Italia, Bernabè founded FB Group in 1999, an investment company active in financial advisory, ICT, and renewable energy. Following the merger of FB Group's financial advisory activities with the Rothschild Group in 2004, he was appointed Vice Chairman of Rothschild Europe. He has also been the Chairman of Mart, the foremost Italian museum of modern art, since 2004, and served as Chairman of La Biennale di Venezia from 2001 to 2003. In addition, Bernabè serves on the Board of the Peres Center for Peace, the Advisory Board of the Observatoire Méditérranéen de l’Énergie, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.