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Domenico De Sole of Gucci Group: Luxe life
Domenico De Sole has come full circle.
December 2002
Institutional Investor Magazine
Born in Rome in 1944, this son of an army general traveled all over Italy in his youth, while dreaming of spending time someday in the U.S. After completing a law degree at the University of Rome in 1970, he got his chance: De Sole received a scholarship to Harvard Law School. After stints at a couple of blue-chip U.S. law firms, he became a partner in the high-powered Washington, D.C., law firm Patton, Boggs & Blow. One of the tax attorney's clients in the early 1980s was the famed Gucci design family, whom he aided on a restructuring of corporate holdings. Impressed with his work, Rodolfo Gucci, a son of founder Guccio Gucci, lured De Sole into the family's business as chief executive officer of Gucci America in 1984. A decade later De Sole found himself in Florence as the parent company's chief operating officer. He became CEO the following year.
It hasn't always been smooth sailing for Gucci Group or De Sole. Investcorp, the Bahrain-based private equity firm, completed its purchase of the Gucci family's stake in 1993, at a time when the fashion company was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. When Investcorp couldn't unload its position, it handed De Sole the unenviable task of reviving the company. De Sole named a young Texan, Tom Ford, as lead designer for the Italian fashion icon. Ford has proved an inspired choice, reenergizing Gucci's product lines and reputation, greatly aiding its revival.
In 1995 De Sole led Gucci's successful listing on the New York and Amsterdam stock exchanges, which allowed Investcorp to cash out. Four years later he outwitted Bernard Arnault when the French financier's fashion conglomerate, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, made a hostile bid for Gucci. De Sole got the help of another Frenchman, Francois Pinault, whose investment firm, Artemis, owned a controlling stake in French retail giant Pinault-Prin-temps-Redoute. Gucci sold PPR a 42 percent interest for $3 billion, diluting the stake Arnault had accumulated and forcing him to retreat.
As part of the complicated deal, Gucci Group agreed to buy Sanofi Beaute -- which owned famed fashion brand Yves Saint Laurent...