Silvio Scaglia

Silvio Scaglia (born October 14, in Lucerne, Switzerland^[1] ) is an Italian telecoms entrepreneur, the founder of Fastweb S.p.A. and Babelgum. He is also the founder and current Chairman of Pacific Global Management Group (PGM), the holding company that controls the Elite World international network of modeling agencies (Elite and Women Management, in New York and Paris^[2]) and the luxury Italian lingerie brand La Perla.^[3] He spent his childhood and youth in Novara, Italy. He is based in London where he lives with his family.

Biography

Early career

After graduating in 1983 with a degree in Electronic Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Turin,^[1] Scaglia began working at Aeritalia Spazio, where for a time he worked on the Teleret satellite project in partnership with NASA and Martin Marietta. Later, in response to a job advertisement, he applied to Arthur Andersen and Andersen Consulting, where he worked for three years, first as a programmer and then as a consultant. On the verge of pursuing a Master’s degree in the U.S., Scaglia instead accepted a position at McKinsey & Co., where he worked under Gianfilippo Cuneo for three years, ultimately following him to Bain & Company. There, among other roles, Scaglia was a consultant for Piaggio. At the start of the 1990s, he became logistics manager for Piaggio’s Spanish subsidiary, working alongside Giovanni Agnelli. Subsequently he became director of Piaggio’s foreign licensing partners, and founded Piaggio’s first industrial base in China in 1994 in Foshan with Agnelli.

Omnitel

In 1994, Omnitel Pronto Italia obtained a mobile telephone license that allowed it to compete with Telecom Italia Mobile.

In 1995, as he prepared to move to Singapore with his family, Scaglia received an offer to work for the Omnitel Pronto Italia “start-up,” which by then had become Telecom Italia’s top competitor in mobile phones; it is now known as Vodafone.

A few months later, in mid-1996 – after Francesco Caio left Omnitel, having been scouted by Franco De Benedetti to run Olivetti – Scaglia took over Caio’s role as chief executive officer of Omnitel, a position he held until 1999 (when Olivetti sold Omnitel, and Scaglia left the company to found Fastweb).

Fastweb

In July 1999, Scaglia created e.Biscom – parent company to several firms, including Fastweb – together with several other executive and financier Francesco Micheli.

On March 30, 2000, e.Biscom made a formal request to Consob, the Italian Securities and Exchange Commission, for stock market flotation. At the peak of the new economy bubble, individual shares of the company were sold for 160 €. The funds raised through Fastweb’s stock exchange flotation allowed it to make numerous investments. Fastweb was the first company in the world to develop a network entirely based on Internet Protocol (IP) – a system that moves digitalized telephonic communications through routers rather than through traditional telephone exchanges – and also the first company in the world to develop a public network using fiber optics for end consumers.

In 2001, Forbes put Silvio Scaglia on the cover of its January issue,^[4] a tribute to Fastweb’s rapid ascent in the world of technology.

In 2003, Time included Scaglia in its list of most influential innovators in the new technology sector.^[5] He was the only Italian listed among the so-called “tech survivors,” a group of about 15 tech gurus who made it out of the new economy bubble unscathed.

In December 2004 the merger between Fastweb and its parent company e.Biscom was completed; the new company was named Fastweb. On March 12, 2007, the Swiss telephone company Swisscom launched an amicable takeover bid for the Fastweb shares in circulation, at a price of 47 euros per share. On 10 April 2007 Scaglia, Fastweb’s majority shareholder, sold his shares in the company, equivalent to 18.7% of the company’s share capital. Scaglia remained in the company as administrator of the Board of Directors. On May 15, 2007, Swisscom’s takeover bid for Fastweb closed with 64,141,464 shares delivered (82.09% of the capital targeted by the bid).

On June 19, 2007, Scaglia left his executive position at Fastweb: his position as Chairman was filled by Carsten Schloter.

Babelgum

On March 5, 2007, Scaglia founded Babelgum,^[6] an interactive web TV offering free, high definition video content on demand.^[7] He described it as “a kind of professional alternative to YouTube.” The platform operates on a revenue sharing system. In 2012, Babelgum went into liquidation.

Elite World

In February 2011, PGM acquired a majority stake in Elite World. Founded in 1972 in Paris, Elite is the world’s largest international network of model management agencies. Elite’s agencies and licensing partners are key players in fashion capitals Paris, London, Milan and New York, as well as in cities central to scouting and business development, such as Amsterdam, Barcelona, Prague, Bratislava, Copenhagen and Hong Kong.

In the years immediately following its acquisition by PGM, Elite World saw a significant boost in its business: with a new focus on digital marketing strategies and strategic acquisitions, the company was well-positioned for growth. It was the first international modeling agency to open a Chinese office, in Shanghai in 2012. After the 2013 opening in New York of The Society Management, and the acquisition Women Management’s New York and Paris agencies the same year, today, PGM Group is a leader in the model management business.

Elite is also very active in model scouting. Through its well-established Elite Model Look competition, since 1983 the firm has launched the careers of some of the industry’s most famous and successful models.

La Perla

On June 4, 2013, Scaglia’s SMS Finance firm won a bid to acquire well-known Bologna-based lingerie and ready-to-wear fashion brand La Perla (La_Perla_(clothing)).^[3][8] At the Civil Court of Bologna, Scaglia won the bid with an offer of 69 million euros, beating out offers from Calzedonia and the Israeli Delta Galil Industries.

The La Perla deal brought Scaglia back to the forefront of Italian business world. In an interview with daily La Repubblica, just hours after the acquisition was finalized, he said: “We are not a fund, I am an entrepreneur.” With these words, he intended to quash the doubts some had raised over the genuineness of his interest in supporting La Perla. “After Omnitel and Fastweb I will personally give La Perla my all: for me, this is a personal challenge I am firmly committed to,” he said.^[9]

Under Scaglia’s leadership, La Perla quickly underwent a significant brand repositioning and worldwide development initiative.^[10]

Legal Problems

Scaglia faced several legal charges between 2007 and 2013. He was ultimately found innocent of all charges and uninvolved in the matters brought before the courts.

Fastweb investigation

On March 13, 2007, Scaglia was questioned for the first time, as former CEO of Fastweb, by Roman magistrates who had been investigating him since 2004 for international tax fraud said to have taken place between 2003 and 2006. On April 13, 2007, the public prosecutor moved to dismiss the charges against Scaglia. The case was dismissed by the judge overseeing preliminary investigations on May 22, 2007.

Fastweb investigation - Telecom Italia Sparkle

As former CEO of Fastweb, Scaglia was under investigation for the crime of “conspiracy to commit tax fraud” in the Fastweb-Telecom Italia Sparkle investigation. He and other Fastweb executives were accused of making false declarations through the use of invoices for non-existent telephonic and telematics transactions.

The alleged crimes were said to have occurred between 2005-2006 and concerned ostensible VAT evasion regarding activities by various paid service operators which used the Fastweb and Telecom Italia Sparkle networks.

On February 23, 2010, the Rome judge overseeing preliminary investigations issued a preventive detention order for Scaglia, among others, in response to a request by the anti-mafia public prosecutor’s office. Through his lawyers, Scaglia agreed to come in for questioning, and he returned to Italy in the night between February 25 and 26, 2010, on a private flight from the Antilles

On November 23, 2010, the trial began.

On February 24, 2011, after nearly a year of preventive detention, Scaglia was released on the order of judges of the First Penal Section of the Court of Rome.^[11]

On October 17, 2013, the same court issued a sentence acquitting Scaglia of all charges and establishing his “complete non-involvement in the matter.”.^[12]

Public award

On 27 October 2013, Scaglia's judicial ordeal has been cited by Mr. Matteo Renzi at the Leopolda meeting in Florence^[13] as an injustice that should no longer occur.

Yewno

In 2016, through his Pacific Capital investment fund, Scaglia invested in Yewno, the “discovery platform” developed by Ruggero Gramatica through contributions from Stanford University.^[14]

In June 2016, Startupitalia wrote that “Yewno has offices in London and Silicon Valley and is composed of a group of entrepreneurs, engineers and data scientists. The team is set to expand thanks to funding from Pacific Capital. The investment firm headed by Silvio Scaglia has assets worth more than 800 million euros and focuses largely on long-term goals.”

Scaglia claimed to be “enthusiastic” about Yewno and said he felt “lucky to be a part of it.”^[15]

Having invested more than 10 million euros in Yewno, Scaglia expressed even greater conviction in the company’s potential. “We believe in this team and we are eager to support its efforts ahead of its launch,” he said, adding that Yewno “is taking giant steps toward surpassing today’s research systems.”

References