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 is Chief Executive of Finmeccanica UK Ltd.

Alberto is also Chairman of SELEX Sistemi Integrati., one of the Finmeccanica operating companies, and he is a board member of several Group companies.

He is married to Verdella Caracciolo di Forino and has three children, Sofia, Daria and Tommaso.