Giovanna Vitelli

Following her graduation with honors in Law in 1999 from the Università degli Studi di Torino, University of Turin, the city where she was born in 1975, she practiced law at one of the main Italian firms, Bonelli Erede Pappalardo in Milan, mainly dealing with corporate transactions, mergers and acquisitions until 2004. 

Since 2000, she has been a board member of Azimut|Benetti SpA, the world’s leading luxury yacht builder, founded by her father, Paolo Vitelli, in 1969.

In 2004, her active participation in the family business began to intensify, with a focus on corporate strategy and product development, carrying Giovanna Vitelli up to the position of Executive Vice President, with executive responsibility for product strategy and development, as well as Group R&D. Following in her footsteps, the entire yachting sector began launching revolutionary collaborations with residential architecture designers, while at the same time the Group is driving progress towards innovative propulsion solutions. As from February 2023 Giovanna Vitelli is the Chairwoman of the Azimut | Benetti Group.

Her love for the yachting industry and her willingness to actively promote the development of this business in Italy and Europe led her to join the Boards of Directors of Marina di Varazze S.r.l., the company dedicated to the construction and management of the Varazze tourist port, and of Lusben Varazze Srl, a company dedicated to the repair and renovation of pleasure boats. Giovanna Vitelli sits on the executive committee for Boot Messe Düsseldorf, which manages the organization of the Düsseldorf International Boat Show and is Vice President of Sybass, the international association that brings together superyacht builders. 

She is enthusiastically dedicated to the promotion of Made in Italy throughout the world, a passion that she pursues both as President of Azimut|Benetti, overseeing the production of elegant and stylish yachts, representative of the excellence associated with Italy, and in her capacity as Vice President for the Altagamma Foundation, which brings together the top-level of industry as world ambassadors for Italian style to showcase the culture and creativity of their country. 

She is also a member of the Board of Directors of Breithorn Srl, a company dedicated to the management of the Grand Hotel des Alpes in Chamonix, the Hotellerie de Mascognaz and the Hotel Breithorn in Champoluc (Aosta). Finally, she is a member of the Board of Directors of Buzzi Unicem Spa, an Italian multinational specialized in the production of cement.

Since 2018, she is Honorary Consul of Norway for Piedmont.