Benetton appoints Marcolin's Massimo Renon as CEO

By

Dominique Muret

Published
Mar 9, 2020

Benetton has once again brought in a CEO in order to relaunch the company: 49-year-old Massimo Renon, who has spent most of his career in the eyewear industry. Luciano Benetton has led the group as executive president since January 2018, supported by chief operations officer Tommaso Brusò.
 

 
Brusò's departure in July of last year made the need for a strong managerial presence alongside the company's founding patriarch more urgent. As explained by the Italian fashion group in a release, "Renon's arrival at Benetton Group is intended to strengthen the business' relaunch process, started by president Luciano Benetton in 2018." 
  
In the first fiscal year under Luciano Benetton's leadership, the company achieved revenues of 1.23 billion euros, down from 1.28 billion in 2017, and a net loss of 115 million euros, compared to a loss of 181 million in the previous year. Although he managed to give a boost to the brand's image with Jean-Charles de Castelbajac in the role of creative director, Benetton was not able to stem declining sales at the company, which have continued to decelerate over the last few years. 
 
Having graduated with degrees in political sciences with a specialisation in business management from Bocconi University and Columbia University, Renon began his career at Giacomelli Sport, where he led the sportswear group's retail development in Italy. He then moved into the eyewear sector, where he has spent most of his career, aside from a brief stint at Ferrari in 2010, serving as commercial and customer service director. 

He spent 10 years at eyewear giant Luxottica, where he began in a series of subsidiary manager roles, first in Belgium, then in Turkey and Northern Europe. He then returned to Italy, taking on the role of wholesale coordinator, before being promoted to the position of director of Europe. 

After his time at Ferrari, he joined eyewear maker Safilo in 2012, stepping into the role of director of the EMEA region and serving alongside CEO Roberto Vedovotto. Two years later Vedovotto took Renon with him to help with the new entity he was creating: Kering Eyewear, where Renon became global commercial director.
 
In 2017, he joined rival eyewear group Marcolin, taking on the same role, just as the Italian company set up Thelios, a joint venture with French luxury group LVMH. Marcolin CEO Giovanni Zoppas was initially meant to head up the new structure, but ultimately newbie Renon was thrust into the position. 

The executive's profile has evidently won over Benetton, perhaps in part because he comes from Veneto, the company's home region, but is also able to boast of solid international experience. 
 
Renon will leave Marcolin on 14 April and join Benetton Group, in Ponzano Veneto, the next day.