David Rosenthal

But when you're talking about something rare and exclusive and so special as what a Ferrari should be, and then you have a company that you don't even really consider your competitor over there,

Making a more exclusive product and managing it better.

That's not a good situation.

So you mentioned 1991.

That was the last year of this interregnum period before Luca comes back.

It's so bad.

Demand has evaporated so much for Ferraris that for the first time in history, cars are going unsold.

They have to furlough the factory workers and shut down the factory.

And so when it comes to this,

Gianni Agnelli finally calls up Luca and says, it's time for you to return.

We need you to come back.

We are, quote, putting Ferrari in your hands.

And Luca di Montezemolo returns to become chairman of Ferrari.

We should note it's going to be important here in a minute.

In Italy, chairman of the company is actually the most important and powerful title.

And the CEO reports to the chairman.

So at this point, when Gianni calls Luca back, he's been gone from the day-to-day at Ferrari for almost 15 years.

After Ferrari, he did a short stint at Fiat, and then he stayed in the Agnelli empire.

He became CEO of the beverage company Cinzano, which is another Agnelli family company.

And so he gained CEO experience.