Self-Financing as Independence Doctrine

“The attitude of being self-reliant also extended to financing. When success really began to bring in money in the 1960s, Godtfred made LEGO self-financing and largely independent of the goodwill of banks. The money was placed in a finance company, which later became Kirkbi, or commonly known as the “LEGO-bank.””

“Undeterred by the rejection, Godtfred continued working on the idea and only made it even bigger. If Walt Disney could captivate people to visit Disneyland, which was a huge success, why shouldn’t LEGO be able to do the same with the great interest there was? It was also one of the last times he asked a bank for assistance.”

“Prada wants to believe in its own future and is working to transform a company shaped around Miuccia and Bertelli into a group capable of remaining independent with its brands, Church’s and Car Shoe, in addition to Prada and Miu Miu, as well as the Marchesi patisserie. The time I met him, to my question whether he wanted to sell, Bertelli, interviewed for Bloomberg, replied indignantly: "I have never sold anything! I still have the bicycle that my uncle left me." That day, in 2021, demonstrating how much he thought about succession, Bertelli candidly admitted that his eldest son Lorenzo would take over the reins of the Group.”

“Over a hundred years have passed, yet their request has not lost its relevance. It is incredible how, in some way, we still find ourselves in the same situation: Italian groups, recognized for the quality of their luxury products, struggling to compete with the big global players in the sector, and the lack of a national hub that has never been successfully established in the land of bell towers, where, as we have seen, several families have preferred to sell to the French of the moment, rather than allying with the neighboring house and warehouse.”