Every Euro Saved Is an Extra Euro in Profit

“On his desk, next to the circular room where all the eyewear collections are displayed and updated weekly according to sales data, he shows me a small engraving. It's written, in blue on a silver background: SIMPLICITY, TRANSPARENCY, CLARITY, HUMILITY. "These words have always been our secret." Next to it, a one euro coin is displayed in a small case with the inscription: EVERY EURO SAVED IS AN EXTRA EURO IN PROFIT. That's it. Simple, almost taken for granted. Yet on these rules they built an empire.”

“His beloved Inter, owned by the Chinese group Suning, owned by Zhang Jindong, is going through a rough patch. The pandemic has devastated the business of football, stadium revenues have disappeared, and the already notoriously shaky balances have turned deep red. The Nerazzurri have obvious cash problems, just in the year when they return to win the championship after over a decade. The company hasn't paid wages for months, and losses exceed 100 million euros per season. Zhang is desperately looking for a buyer, but he demands evaluations not in line with the revenues of the Milanese team. A tasty morsel for bankers who start knocking on the doors of the major investors in town. They also make it to Del Vecchio's office, hoping to breach his Nerazzurri football faith, as revealed by press rumors. After all, when he was young, he had been president and founder of the Agordo football team. No dice, Leonardo is loyal to the line. He has too much respect for money and for the effort it takes to earn it to get lured into the football business, one of those where it's easy to spend hundreds of millions of euros to please one's ego.”