9. Luca de Meo

Luca de Meo was born in Milan, Italy, in 1967. He graduated with a Business Administration degree from Milan’s Bocconi University. His dissertation, the first on the topic in Italy, looked at corporate ethics.

Click here to subscribe to our print edition!

Luca de Meo has worked in the automobile industry for over 25 years. He started his career at Renault before moving on to Toyota Europe, then the Fiat Group, where he served as CEO of Abarth and the head of the Lancia, Fiat, and Alfa Romeo brands. He was regarded as Sergio Marchionne’s protege when working for Fiat, and he had a crucial role in introducing the new Fiat 500. However, Marchionne was unhappy with how Alfa Romeo turned out while he was in charge.

Before accepting the role of the board of management member for sales and marketing at Audi AG, De Meo joined the Volkswagen Group in 2009 as marketing director of the Volkswagen brand and of the Volkswagen Group. From November 2015 to January 2020, he served as SEAT’s president. In January 2020, it was announced that he would be the CEO of Renault starting in July 2020. However, due to a non-compete clause with Volkswagen Group, Renault would not have a CEO for another five months.

Luca de Meo has been the CEO of Renault S.A. and Chairman of Renault s.a.s. since July 1, 2020. He was also the CEO of Renault Brand as of January 1, 2021. He sits on the management board of the Renault Group. Luca de Meo has served on the TIM Board of Directors since April 1, 2021. (Telecom Italia).

READ MORE: How Horner and Newey led Red Bull Racing to F1 glory

Italian, English, French, German, and Spanish are among the five languages that Luca de Meo is fluent in. He was a teaching fellow at the SDA Bocconi School of Management and is the author of the book From 0 to 500.

De Meo unveiled “Renaulution,” Groupe Renault’s new strategic plan, in January 2021 with the intention of switching the focus from volume to value. He joined the Leadership Team on February 1, 2023, replacing the Board of Management (BOM) roles and the Corporate Management Committee (CMC). This new, unified management structure aims to oversee the strategic and operational administration of Renault Group operations.

Luca de Meo is married to Silvia Goracci, and they have two sons.