Ferrari Heir Sets Up Succession Plan For His Supercar Billions

Piero Ferrari, the son of the supercar-maker's founder, is designing a succession plan that involves his most iconic asset: Ferrari NV shares.

Piero, 77, the company's vice chairman, set up a family trust this month to oversee the roughly 10% stake he inherited from his father Enzo Ferrari, according to a US regulatory filing late Monday. The trust's beneficiaries are Piero's daughter Antonella and grandsons Enzo Mattioli Ferrari and Piero Galassi Ferrari, though he will retain voting control over the shares during his lifetime.

Piero Ferrari has a net worth of about $4.6 billion, with most of his wealth tied up in the Italian automaker, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. A spokesperson for Ferrari declined to comment beyond the regulatory filing.

The move gives a rare insight into the succession plans for the world's super-rich. Billionaires will transfer more than $2 trillion within the next two decades, according to research by UBS Group AG and PwC, with the COVID-19 pandemic helping to accelerate that shift.

Piero Ferrari's fortune has boomed in recent years as the Maranello, Italy-based company's stock has gained more than 300% since listing in New York in 2015. He also owns a stake in Italian luxury yacht builder Ferretti Group and is chairman of engineering services firm HPE COXA.

Creating the trust won't affect the agreement that Piero reached in late 2015 with Exor NV, the holding company of the billionaire Agnelli family and Ferrari's largest shareholder with about a 24% stake. That agreement is a consultation commitment "with the aim of forming and exercising a common view on the items on the agenda of any general meetings of Ferrari shareholders."

A spokesperson for Exor also declined to comment beyond Monday's filing.

Ferrari is in the midst of an effort to turn its historic factory in northern Italy into a hub for battery-powered cars. The transformation underscores how even the most high-end makers of combustion engines are preparing for a largely electric future.

The automaker plans to invest about 4.4 billion euros ($4.7 billion) to develop fully electric and plug-in hybrid models that will comprise 60% of its portfolio by 2026, Chief Executive Officer Benedetto Vigna said in June during the company's capital markets day.

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