Alberto de Benedictis – Chief Executive, Finmeccanica
UK
An Italian national and graduate of the School of
Economics of La Sapienza University of Rome and the Georgetown
University School of Foreign Service, Alberto de Benedictis started
his career as an economist at the World Bank in Washington.
In 1981, he joined Finmeccanica’s New York
office and was appointed North American Representative in 1983 and
Senior Vice President North America in 1989. During that period,
Finmeccanica developed an extensive presence in the United States,
through acquisitions. Alberto has held Board positions in NASDAQ
and NYSE listed companies, and has served on Audit, Remuneration
and Strategy Committees of these Boards.
In 1995, Alberto was appointed Senior Vice
President Strategic Finance at Finmeccanica corporate in Rome,
Italy with responsibility for mergers, joint ventures, divestitures
and corporate finance. As Finmeccanica restructured heavily in
subsequent years, he was responsible for the divestiture of more
than 60 subsidiaries and the re-capitalization and privatization of
the company, through one of the largest equity offerings in Europe
in 2001.
During this period Alberto also completed
joint ventures with European companies in the helicopter and
defence electronics areas. In 2002 he was appointed to the position
of Head of Business Development for the Finmeccanica Group with
responsibility for strategy and business development.
In November 2004, he was appointed Head of
USA/UK Operations, and since 2005 has been Chief Executive of
Finmeccanica UK Ltd. Alberto is also Chairman of SELEX Sistemi
Integrati, one of the Finmeccanica operating companies, as well as
a Board member of several other Group companies.
He is married to Verdella Caracciolo di Forino
and has three children – Sofia, Daria and Tommaso.