They own world-famous car brands: Ferrari, Fiat... and throughout the 20th century, passed down a huge fortune to their descendants. However, as a challenge of fate, for some people in this family, money and fame did not bring them happiness.
There was no chance of turning back. Below him was an 80 meter deep abyss, with a waterfall bed strewn with boulders. Without hesitation, he jumped into the void in front of him, as if driven by some invisible force…
Edoardo Agnelli (1954 - 2000)
A few minutes later, the patrol on the Turin-Savone highway was surprised to see a gray Fiat Croma parked in the middle of a viaduct, the doors wide open, the engine and lights still running. On the car, a gray business card clearly identified the owner: Edoardo Agnelli, 46 years old, the only son of Italy's largest businessman Giovanni Agnelli. Apparently, the disinherited Fiat heir fell 80 meters into the abyss and died on the spot, on the cold and gloomy morning of November 15, 2000.
The sad news spread, the whole of Italy was shocked in infinite grief and the story of the 46-year-old middle-aged man and what happened in that fateful moment was passed on endlessly by everyone.
Edoardo Agnelli was born in New York (USA) on June 6, 1954 and a year later, his younger sister Margherita. In his youth, Edoardo was a weak person, in contrast to his strong, healthy father, who often chased after... women. He preferred to ponder rather than act. As the only son, he would be the heir to the huge fortune of the Agnelli family. However, at Princeton University (USA), he preferred to study literature and philosophy rather than law and engineering.
The father, Mr. Giovanni Agnelli, tried to train his son to use power, so he placed Edoardo in a key position at the famous Juventus football club in Turin, but here, he made one mistake after another. Finally, Mr. Giovanni had to sadly conclude that his only son could not be the hope of his life. From then on, he never entrusted Edoardo with the supervision and direction of the factory.
Meanwhile, the naive guy in the business field achieved success with… women. But the life of butterflies did not please Edoardo for long, he did not get married and closed himself within four lonely walls.
In 1990, during a vacation in Malindi (Kenya), local security forces caught him carrying 300 grams of cocaine.
drugs. Edoardo was arrested and then released thanks to the intervention of the Italian ambassador in the host country. Not long after, he spoke out to criticize the leadership of the Fiat factory, which, according to him, used inhumane management methods. He expressed his dream: "I want to see a Fiat factory where people work happily, I think of a Fiat that is no longer a place where people suffer and are exhausted." Those words made Mr. Giovanni extremely angry. And the tragedy happened from there, after Mr. Giovanni decided to choose his grandson named Elkann to succeed his career.
Edoardo and his father - Mr. Giovanni Agnelli
Frustrated by his father's treatment, Edoardo settled thousands of miles away from Turin, working as a philosophy professor at a university. His only friend at this time was the psychiatrist Alberto Pini, who kept in regular contact by phone to help him deal with his mental crisis.
As for Mr. Giovanni, the real owner of Fiat, at that time he had only one support, his grandson John Elkann, Margherita's son, who was 22 years old at that time. He was studying literature at Oxford University, but due to family pressure, he had to return to study at Politecnico di Torino, an engineering school in Turin.
The dramatic developments of the Agnelli family weighed heavily on Edoardo's life. His father's cold and decisive dethronement was the last straw that made the cup of resentment overflow. Edoardo sought death on November 15, 2000. At the funeral of his only son, Giovanni muttered: "My poor son, how terrible." However, before his eyes was the image of his 3-year-old granddaughter Virginia Asia. He hoped that in 20 years, this little girl would be the one to hold the fate of the Agnelli family.
(to be continued)
(Excerpt from Daily Lives of Famous People in the World published by Ho Chi Minh City General Publishing House, 2023)
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