Agnelli legacy: Marella’s heritage in the crosshairs
Under the magnifying glass of the investigation opened by the Turin prosecutor’s office later Margherita Agnelli’s exhibit contains the assets of the Lawyer then became an inheritance and, therefore, that of his wife Marella, who passed away on 23 February 2019. As Corriere della Sera writes, “already suffering from health problems, she would have spent most of her time in Italy, at least in 2018, the year examined by the investigators: more than the 183 days required by law to be resident in our country, and no longer in Switzerland. A detail which would affect the methods of paying taxes (which is of interest to prosecutors) and which could cancel the open succession under Swiss law (Margherita’s goal)”.
“In the investigation, John Elkann, one of Margherita’s three sons and president of Exor (unrelated to the investigation), Gianluca Ferrero, the family’s historic accountant and Juve’s number one, and Urs Robert Von Gruenigen, in charge of administering the woman’s assets”.
The hypothesis, reported by Corriere della Sera, is that “precisely to demonstrate residence in Switzerland – as per the investigative thesis – that various personnel serving in Italy would have been “hired” by the trust companies or by John Elkann himself: driver, housekeeper, cook. Ferrero and the Swiss administrator would then have drawn up and signed the “fraudulent” declarations”.
Il Fatto Quotidiano adds a detail, according to which “Margherita Agnelli is hunting for the family’s offshore capital, which was allegedly hidden from her in the inheritance agreement. The Turin Prosecutor’s Office is looking for the potentially enormous incomes that would have been hidden from the tax authorities through trusts linked to tax havens.”
Is the empire led by John Elkann in the balance?
Corriere della Sera also recalls the reason for the dispute in this family saga: “Today the Elkann holding (60% John, 20% each Lapo and Ginevra) is the largest shareholder of a 35 billion empire with stakes in Stellantis , Ferrari, Juventus, Philips, Cnh etc. And he’s the mother’s big target. But his three sons Elkann had already made it known in the past, regarding the various “unfounded” civil lawsuits, that they were “always determined to respect the wishes of their grandparents” and to “await the judges’ decision with serenity and trust. Decision which in any case will not change the governance structures of December””.
But according to Il Fatto Quotidiano the story is an attack on the heart of a myth: that of the Agnelli. “And he could be the one to pay the harshest consequences, the heir who no longer bears that surname, John Elkann. At the risk of seeing the role that his grandfather had assigned to him jeopardized: the guide of the family treasures.”