Apple CFO Luca Maestri, Jony Ive supposed prospects in Ferrari CEO hunt

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in General Discussion edited June 2021
Storied Italian automaker Ferrari is reportedly eyeing one current and one former Apple executive to replace outgoing CEO Louis Camilleri, who abruptly retired on Thursday due to personal reasons.

Luca Maestri and Jony Ive


The sudden nature of Camilleri's departure sparked quick and rampant speculation among industry insiders and media outlets regarding a potential replacement.

Among the names bandied about, at least by Italian media, are current Apple CFO Luca Maestri and former CDO Jony Ive, reports Reuters. Maestri was named CFO in 2014, while Ive left Apple last year to form design consultancy LoveFrom.

Other choices include the former head of Ferrari's racing team Stefano Domenicali, who previously served as Lamborghini's chief executive. F1, where Domenicali is due to start as CEO on Jan. 1, denied the rumors.

As noted in the report, Ferrari is often viewed by analysts and investors more as a purveyor of luxury goods than a traditional automotive company. Indeed, Camilleri, who came from the tobacco and food industries prior to taking the helm at the Maranello carmaker in 2018, last year launched an initiative to boost the firm's apparel, accessories, luxury products and services offerings, the report said.

Automotive veteran Luca di Montezemolo led the company through a renaissance as CEO and Chairman from 1991 to 2014. Interestingly, Montezemolo met with Apple's Tim Cook in 2012 to discuss corporate strategy and management styles.

Leadership remained in-house until Camilleri's entrance, with longtime Ferrari executive Amedeo Felisa grabbing the reins before handing them off to Sergio Marchionne, head of parent company Fiat.

Apple's ties to Ferrari extend to the tech giant's SVP of internet software and services Eddy Cue, a proclaimed Ferrari fan who joined the marque's board of directors in 2012.

Executive chairman John Elkann will serve as interim CEO as Ferrari seeks out a worthy replacement.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 22
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,093member
    I can't see Ive running Ferrari.  It's doesn't seem to me like a match made in heaven.  
    JWSCfotoformatyojimbo007AI_lias
  • Reply 2 of 22
    tshapitshapi Posts: 370member
    sflocal said:
    I can't see Ive running Ferrari.  It's doesn't seem to me like a match made in heaven.  

    It depends on the direction the board of directors want to take the company. If they are focused on product design then it’s Ive, but If they want someone who knows there #s... then it could be Luca...

  • Reply 3 of 22
    Alex1NAlex1N Posts: 129member
    sflocal said:
    I can't see Ive running Ferrari.  It's doesn't seem to me like a match made in heaven.  
    :D :D :D Run away, Ferrari, RUN AWAY AND DON’T STOP RUNNING!
    wg45678SpamSandwichAI_lias
  • Reply 4 of 22
    9secondkox29secondkox2 Posts: 2,702member
    Very few designers are wired to be CEOs. 

    I’ve is the creamed of the crop in industrial design and digital design. 

    Ive design is about elegance, refinement, restraint, and form following function. 

    But Ferrari is about excess. Going srg imething gir the sake of doing it. 

    It’s a clash of ideals and direction. 

    Ive at Porsche? All day. 

    Ferrari? Nah. 
    JWSCcg27GeorgeBMacretrogusto
  • Reply 5 of 22
    croffordcrofford Posts: 96member
    LOL - Ive couldn’t manage a handful of designers much less an entire company. 
  • Reply 6 of 22
    croffordcrofford Posts: 96member
    Ferrari is currently risking its brand by expanding production, making numerous “limited production” cars, and sucking in Formula 1.  Bring back Luca di Montezemolo
  • Reply 7 of 22
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    crofford said:
    LOL - Ive couldn’t manage a handful of designers much less an entire company. 
    Yeah, but Ive goes down in the history books and you just die in obscurity. 
  • Reply 8 of 22
    spartadataspartadata Posts: 31member
    Even if one can’t afford a Ferrari and admiring them from a far - they have always reached design apex as exotic and respected high end dream cars... now when Tesla, new brands are coming into the fray and Apple as well... Ferrari understands things can’t remain static and risks must be made to evolve into the future with a future shell design unlike any other... Ives please make your Ferrari! Then sell it to Apple. Win, us.
  • Reply 9 of 22
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    "The Peter Principle":   A person always rises to his / her level of incompetence.
    applguy
  • Reply 10 of 22
    flydogflydog Posts: 1,123member
    sflocal said:
    I can't see Ive running Ferrari.  It's doesn't seem to me like a match made in heaven.  
    Based on your many years supervising Ive and being intimately familiar with this background, qualifications, and experience? I suppose you’re also an expert on the inner working of Ferrari to the point that you know what sort of person they would need as CEO?
  • Reply 11 of 22
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,356member
    Jony Ive as head of Fiat, probably not. But for head of Ferrari, which is a boutique like specialty shop within Fiat that caters to customers with big aspirational dreams, big wallets, and a total lack of inhibition about flaunting one's wealth, Jony would be a very good fit, especially with the air cover that Fiat would provide. His product development expertise is not limited to designing thin white and shiny things. Jony is also very adept at the entire industrialization process, i.e., the transformation of elegant designs into products that can be produced efficiently at-scale and in compressed time frames. This alone is an incredible talent that Jony brings to the table and one that is sorely lacking at Ferrari.

    If you compare Ferrari to say Mercedes, since they are both in F1, you'll see that Mercedes is an industrial powerhouse with their own "boutique" shop AMG. Unlike Ferrari, Mercedes and AMG are joined at the hip and leverage one another's strengths to perfection, delivering superbly engineered and elegantly designed products to a niche of customers who fully appreciate all of these virtues. What does this powerhouse combination remind you of? Apple perhaps? Apple massive growth is powered by their ability to deliver exceptional design and engineering at-scale, and Jony working with Steve and Tim had a lot to do with helping make that formula work. We all admire the design elegance and quality that most Apple products exude, but many of these products are essentially mass produced. That says a lot.

    If Jony can help bring some of the industrial strength of Fiat and the elegant design of Ferrari together while retaining the uniqueness that Ferrari brings to bear today through outdated and outmoded production processes, who knows what could happen. Essentially, if Jony can make Fiat-Ferrari with its Italian heritage execute more like Mercedes-AMG with its German heritage, the future of Ferrari would be much more assured and growth oriented. So yeah, I believe Jony Ive would be a great fit for Ferrari.
  • Reply 12 of 22
    mainyehcmainyehc Posts: 133member
    Nah. I don’t see either of them taking the position. Obsessed as he may be about cars (he does own and drive an Aston Martin, right?), Ive always designed affordable products, with some notable one-offs like the red Trash Pro and that Leica camera. Wasn’t that LoveFrom shop supposedly set up to solve other daily life issues? Unless, of course, he took the Jobs route (he was indeed CEO of both Apple and Pixar until he retired), as being the CEO of Ferrari would likely be easier than CDO of Apple (Ferrari wouldn’t have as many resource constraints and a paucity of different SKUs) and luxury cars and whatever he wants to design at LoveFrom don’t overlap.

    As for Luca Maestri, AFAIK he’s #1 in line of succession to Tim Cook. Apple would never let him go that easily and, as sexy as Ferrari may be as a company, running (or co-running, whatever) Apple is and always will be a much bigger challenge.
    edited December 2020
  • Reply 13 of 22
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    crofford said:
    LOL - Ive couldn’t manage a handful of designers much less an entire company. 
    Jony couldn’t make a decision without Steve Jobs’ feedback. Look at what he did to iOS UI design. Catastrophe for users.
  • Reply 14 of 22
    hentaiboyhentaiboy Posts: 1,252member
    mainyehc said:
    As for Luca Maestri, AFAIK he’s #1 in line of succession to Tim Cook. Apple would never let him go that easily and, as sexy as Ferrari may be as a company, running (or co-running, whatever) Apple is and always will be a much bigger challenge.
    Never underestimate the lure of Ferrari to a red-blooded Italian. 
  • Reply 15 of 22
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    hentaiboy said:
    mainyehc said:
    As for Luca Maestri, AFAIK he’s #1 in line of succession to Tim Cook. Apple would never let him go that easily and, as sexy as Ferrari may be as a company, running (or co-running, whatever) Apple is and always will be a much bigger challenge.
    Never underestimate the lure of Ferrari to a red-blooded Italian. 
    Maestri isn’t next in line. That would be Jeff Williams, Apple’s COO.
  • Reply 16 of 22
    sedicivalvolesedicivalvole Posts: 227member
    hentaiboy said:
    mainyehc said:
    As for Luca Maestri, AFAIK he’s #1 in line of succession to Tim Cook. Apple would never let him go that easily and, as sexy as Ferrari may be as a company, running (or co-running, whatever) Apple is and always will be a much bigger challenge.
    Never underestimate the lure of Ferrari to a red-blooded Italian. 
    Or a red blooded Englishman!
  • Reply 17 of 22
    christopher126christopher126 Posts: 4,366member
    Ferrari is stuck in the 19th century....They couldn't be worse if they mounted lanterns on the front fenders.

    I see $200K Ferrari's and immediatley think of 10 miles per gallon.

    The drivers are out-of-touch tools...

    It's like collecting old brass sewing machines. 

    edited December 2020 DAalseth
  • Reply 18 of 22
    mangakattenmangakatten Posts: 99member
    I think I read somewhere that the rumored apple car was a project for Ive to not get bored with apple. Maybe he still has some ambition about designing a car? Would be great if Ferrari seriously tried to compete with Tesla on electric cars. Ferrari got form, maybe Ive can help the, also gain function?
  • Reply 19 of 22
    yojimbo007yojimbo007 Posts: 1,165member
    9secondkox2 said:


    I’ve is the creamed of the crop in industrial design and digital design. 

    He is ok.. overly  hyped by Apples marketing prowess.   There are some truly great industrial designers out there who would eat Ives for breakfast.. (IMO) 
  • Reply 20 of 22
    AI_liasAI_lias Posts: 434member
    Judging by such design decisions as removing the headphone jack, other ports, and blessing us with all kinds of dongles, then such hits as replacing one keyboard key needs the entire top of the laptop replaced for $700, and also said keyboard is sensitive to dust, no, I don't think Jony Ive is a good designer. There are others better than him. Apple seems to be making better decisions now that he's gone.
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