Vito Gamberale

Who is Vito Gamberale?

Vito Gamberale is an Italian manager.

In 1968 he obtained his Master Degree in Mechanical Engineering at La Sapienza University in Rome, and started working as assistant professor at the mechanical Engineering department. From 1968 to 1969 he worked at Azienda Nazionale Idrogenazione Combustibili in Milan; later he became the Istituto Mobiliare Italiano's evaluation expert in textile, clothing, iron and steel, and mechanical industries, until 1977.

He worked in GEPI SpA, as acquisitions and privatizations manager, until 1984. Later, he held top offices in companies controlled by the Eni group and he settled the textile industry privatization. In 1991 he left the company to work at the STET group, and held a primary role in telecommunication companies as CEO. In 1995 he established Telecom Italia Mobile SpA leading Italy to reach the highest mobile phone penetration rate worldwide.

His daughter, Chiara Gamberale – a well-known writer and anchor woman – drew on that event to write her first novel, "Una vita sottile", turned into a fiction for the RAI.

In 1997, the company privatization and the new share structure got him to resign from general director of Telecom Italia. In 1998 Vito Gamberale joined the Benetton Group with the aim of taking part in the Autostrade privatization. He became vicepresident of 21 Investimenti SpA, an industrial participation company controlled by Benetton, Banca Intesa, Deutsche Bank and Assicurazioni Generali. In 2000, he became CEO of Autostrade SpA, European leader among motorways construction and management concessionaires; under his management, the group EBITDA grew from 1 to 2 million euro. When the property announced a merger project with the Abertis Spanish company, he did not agree and resigned.