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Prada sets succession process in motion as Lorenzo Bertelli joins board
Miuccia Prada and Patrizio Bertelli, respectively 72 and 75 years old, have been preparing their succession for some years. A new stage in the process will be reached with the forthcoming renewal of Prada’s board of directors. In a document filed with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, on which the Italian luxury label has been listed since 2011, Prada convened an AGM for May 27. The AGM is set to co-opt as new board member Lorenzo Bertelli, 33, the couple’s eldest son. In 2015, Lorenzo Bertelli had already joined the board of directors of Prada Holding, which has an 80% stake in Prada’s operating company.
Also, as recently reported by Italian daily paper La Repubblica, Miuccia Prada has transferred the bare ownership of the Ludo holding company to her sons: a 50.5% stake to Lorenzo and a 49.5% one to younger sibling Giulio. Miuccia Prada still enjoys the usufruct on the company’s entire capital. Ludo controls 53.8% of Bellatrix SpA (the remaining 46.2% stake being held by Miuccia’s siblings Alberto and Marina Prada Bianchi), which in turn has a 65% stake in Prada Holding (the remaining 35% is held by Patrizio Bertelli).
According to the document filed with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, there are two key board changes on the horizon. The new board will include Lorenzo Bertelli – the son of current CEOs Miuccia Prada and Patrizio Bertelli, who is already playing an active role in the group - and will sanction the departure of President Carlo Mazzi, whose mandate, which he has held for nine years, will not be renewed. Mazzi’s proposed successor is Paolo Zannoni, international consultant for Goldman Sachs and currently president of Italian catering group Autogrill, who has recently stepped down from his role as president of Dolce & Gabbana Holding.
Prada’s new board will be elected on May 27 for a three-year term, and should be made up of nine members. In addition to Lorenzo Bertelli and Paolo Zannoni, it is expected to include Marina Sylvia Caprotti, executive president of Italian supermarket giant Esselunga, and Yoël Zaoui of M&A consultancy firm Zaoui & Co., a long-time executive at Goldman Sachs. Already on the board, the label’s creative director Miuccia Prada, her husband Patrizio Bertelli, Prada CFO Alessandra Cozzani, lawyer Stefano Simontacchi and financial consultant Maurizio Cereda, while Gian Franco Oliviero Mattei, Giancarlo Forestieri and Sing Cheong Liu are set to leave the board alongside Carlo Mazzi.
Lorenzo Bertelli graduated in philosophy at Milan’s San Raffaele University in 2008, and first made a name for himself as a rally driver. In 2017, he joined the family group to oversee the renovation and rejuvenation of long-established Milanese patisserie Marchesi, acquired by the group in 2014.
In 2018, he was appointed head of digital communications at Prada, and the following year he was promoted to marketing director. From 2020, he is also tasked with overseeing the group’s CSR policies. Last year, his remuneration package amounted to €186,000, plus an additional €35,490 in various performance bonuses.
According to the same document, Miuccia Prada’s 2020 remuneration was €9.08 million, plus €27,000 in bonuses. “Mrs Prada’s remuneration has been determined considering her strategic role, notably with regards to the label’s creative design concept and style, its brand communication and advertising, and the importance of her managerial activity in her role as CEO and executive director, which has enabled the group to reach its financial performance goals and results,” indicated the document. Patrizio Bertelli, the group’s co-founder and joint CEO, received a remuneration identical to that of Miuccia Prada.
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