In Zurich on July 20, Elkann knew he had to make that crucial decision without Marchionne at his side. Flying back to Turin—where Fiat was founded in 1899—he summoned top managers, executives, and members of the boards of Fiat, Ferrari, and CNH to assemble in the city the next day. Before they convened, he had to come up with candidates for them to consider. For Fiat, at least, that process had been under way for months. Potential candidates included Europe chief Alfredo Altavilla, Jeep boss Mike Manley, and Chief Financial Officer Richard Palmer.
Elkann whittled the list down to two to discuss with the board: Palmer and Manley.
As the emergency meeting was coming together, Palmer took himself out of the race while Manley confirmed he wanted the job. So Elkann proposed Manley, who’d been key to the boom at Jeep, Fiat’s most profitable unit, where sales rose to more than 1.6 million in 2018 from 300,000 in 2009. Altavilla, Marchionne’s closest aide for over a decade, told the chairman he was going to resign. Palmer, who stayed on as CFO and has now been appointed to the board,
is working closely with both Manley and Elkann on Fiat Chrysler strategy, with a new responsibility for mergers and acquisitions.
Elkann then chose Marchionne’s successor as chairman at CNH, naming Suzanne Heywood, managing director of
Exor NV, the Agnelli family’s holding company, for the post. There was no obvious replacement at Ferrari because Marchionne had expected to stay at least three more years. Elkann chose
Philip Morris International Inc. Chairman Louis Camilleri, a Ferrari board member, who had the international standing—and could take the job on just a few hours’ notice.On July 21 the boards affirmed Elkann’s choices—just in time to make that night’s prime-time news shows. Four days later, Marchionne’s family announced that he’d died.
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