Ferrari Chair John Elkann Accepts Community Service in Italian Tax Settlement

John Elkann, the chair of Ferrari and Stellantis, has reached a settlement with Italian prosecutors over a high-profile inheritance tax dispute. As part of the agreement, Elkann will perform one year of community service and, together with his siblings Lapo and Ginevra, pay €183m (£159m) to Italy’s tax authorities.

The case relates to the estate of Elkann’s grandmother, Marella Caracciolo, who passed away in 2019. Prosecutors had alleged that the Elkann siblings failed to declare about €1bn in assets and €248.5m in income, maintaining that Caracciolo was legally resident in Switzerland at the time of her death.

Elkann’s lawyer emphasized that the settlement does not constitute any admission of guilt. He described the agreement as a way to bring “this painful affair to a swift and definitive close.” If Elkann’s request for probation is accepted, the proceedings against him will be suspended, and once the probationary period is successfully completed, all charges will be extinguished.

According to reports, Elkann will be required to suggest where he could serve his community service, with options including centres for the elderly or facilities assisting people with drug addiction. His siblings, Lapo and Ginevra, have already seen charges against them dismissed.

This tax case forms part of a much larger family dispute over the inheritance of Fiat patriarch Gianni Agnelli, Elkann’s grandfather. Agnelli transformed Fiat from a small car manufacturer into a global conglomerate before his death more than 20 years ago. His daughter, Margherita Agnelli, inherited €1.2bn but has since fought to overturn agreements she signed in 2004. She argues that a greater share of the family fortune should go to her five younger children from a second marriage, rather than to her three elder children, including John Elkann.

In a statement, Margherita Agnelli’s lawyers welcomed the resolution of the tax and criminal proceedings.

Elkann, the eldest of Margherita’s children, has played a central role in the Agnelli family’s business empire for decades. He first joined Fiat’s board in 1997, became chair of Ferrari in 2018, and has served as chair of Stellantis since 2021.