Giovanni Agnelli

Giovanni Agnelli was an Italian entrepreneur, who founded Fiat car manufacturing in 1899.

The son of Edoardo Agnelli and Aniceta Frisetti, he was born in 1866 in Villar Perosa, a small town near Pinerolo, Piedmont, still the main home and burial place of the Agnelli family. His father, mayor of Villar Perosa, died at age 40, when Giovanni was just five. He studied at the Collegio San Giuseppe in Turin then embarked on a military career until 1893 when he returned to Villar Perosa, where he followed in his fathers footsteps and became mayor in 1895 which he held until his death. Agnelli heard about the invention of the new horseless carriage and immediately saw an opportunity for using his engineering and entrepreneurial skills. In 1898, he met Count Emanuele Cacherano of Bricherasio, who was looking for investors for his horseless carriage project Agnelli sensed the opportunity.

Source: Wikipedia