Giuseppe Bono led Fincantieri as CEO for two decades
Giuseppe Bono, who led Fincantieri for two decades into the world’s leading cruise shipbuilder and vastly diversified the business, has died.
‘A great leader leaves us,’ Fincantieri said in an announcement today, crediting Bono’s contribution to the ‘relaunch of Italian naval engineering which today can boast undisputed world leadership.’
Stepped downin April
Bono served as CEO of the shipbuilding group until stepping down in April at age 78. He saw Fincantieri through the pandemic, returning the Italian yards torecord production volumes at the exceeding pre-COVID-19 levelsin 2021 and winning new orders.
Diversification
Cruise customersexpanded from leading customer Carnival Corp. & plc and its brands to MSC Cruises and Explora Journeys;Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises; Viking and Virgin Voyages. (In July, Fincantieri won an order for Four Seasons Yachts.)
Not only did Bonomake Fincantieri a cruise shipbuilding powerhouse, he diversified the business and expanded with multipleshipyard acquisitions, including Vard.
Reference operator in all sectors of high-tech shipbuilding
Under Bono, Fincantieri became a reference operator in all sectors of high-technology shipbuilding, from military vessels to offshore vessels, from special vessels and highly complex ferries to mega-yachts. The group also focused on repairs and transformations, manufacturing of systems and components and after-sales services.
‘Courageous and far-sighted vision’
Bono ‘developed and pursued a courageous and far-sighted vision, with constant attention to people, always taking up the most difficult challenges and always pursuing the interest of the country,’ Fincantieri Executive Chairman Claudio Graziano CEO Pierroberto Folgiero said in a joint statement.
‘The firm respect for work as a primary value was the distinctive feature and the beacon of his actions,’ they continued. ‘His death deeply grieves the whole Fincantieri community.’
