What connects Donald Trump, the President of the United States, Adam Neumann, the disgraced CEO of WeWork, and Marc Bourgade, the chairman of Aeroitalia? At first glance, they have little in common. Yet, they share a striking similarity; each has presided over a business led, in part, by a big personality whose actions place long-term business success on a razor’s edge.
In the case of Trump and Newman, that personality has been their own. Who could forget Donald Trump’s exceptional achievement of being one of the few to have to declare bankruptcy on a string of his casinos in Atlantic City, an impressive feat given that it is an industry that prints money. After notoriously misleading investors with an earnings report showing his casinos to be financially successful, the SEC slapped down cease and desist proceedings for an Earnings Release that was “materially misleading”. Unsurprisingly, investors steadily diluted Trump’s ownership until he was all but removed from being involved in the company.
When evaluating companies as potential investments, particularly in industries requiring specialised knowledge, the credentials and track records of the leadership team are critical red flags or green lights. Investors often look for specific expertise within the sector, a history of sound decision-making, and a demonstrated ability to navigate industry-specific challenges is rewarded with better prices when going for an IPO. The absence of these qualities can be a warning sign. Adam Neumann serves as an exemplar of this, his unique style of management which included letting his wife fire staff for their bad vibes and ending a round of layoffs with Run-DMC concert and tequila shots led to the direct implosion of WeWork dreams of an IPO as the business hemorrhaged a $1.9bn loss despite raking in $1.8bn in revenue.
So are the warning signs flashing for Italian airline AeroItalia? In the case of Mark Bourgade’s appointment of CEO Francesco Gaetano Intrieri, the lights are blinking red.
Bourgade – who was educated as a civil engineer and then moved into the finance industry, first as a bank auditor before turning to aviation finance – is not a highly experienced chairman. With little experience leading a company, you’d expect Bourgade to want a proven leader at the helm. It begs the question, why did he pick Francesco Gaetano Intrieri as CEO?
A cursory look into Intrieri’s past would reveal a string of red flags keen-eyed investors will certainly note. Not only has Intrieri been called out for falsifying numerous aspects of his academic and professional history, he was convicted of embezzling nearly €500,000 for personal use after just five months as CEO at a previous airline. Reporting revealed that when a shareholder complaint triggered investigations, Intrieri spun a web of lies before finally admitting that he took the money because his bank wouldn’t leave him alone. After that, he spent eight years hopping from airline to airline – Club Air, Italiatour Airlines, ItAli Airlines, and Eagles Airlines – while, coincidentally, none of them survived for longer than seven months post his departure.
All of this came to light when he was tapped to be a government consultant in 2018. Around a month after his appointment, Intrieri resigned. It’s hard to tell whether his conviction for fraudulent bankruptcy, his string of sexist remarks made, incredibly, for all to see on social media just weeks before he was named for the consultant position, or his penchant for taking to X to air his grievances was the final straw. Apparently, his predilection for publicly-aired missives hasn’t faded with age. As CEO of AeroItalia, Intrieri’s ranted on Facebook at RyanAir’s Michael O’Leary and suddenly pulled the airline out of Comiso weeks before the holiday season because it “the community didn’t appreciate it”, before making an about-face. How in the world did Bourgade miss all this? And what in the world makes him think keeping Intrieri on is a good idea?
Just last week, 92 passengers had a “nightmarish” night when they were left stranded at Milan Bergamo airport on their way to the Comiso in Sicily. With no replacement crew on hand, passengers were left at the airport for over 10 hours. A complementary hotel stay was offered for just two hours. The debacle was flatly derided by the president of Sicilian consumer protection group, Federconsumatori Sicilia, who declared AeroItalia had displayed “insufficient professionalism” in managing the situation.
Investors eyeing up a potential partnership may also balk at the business decisions Intrieri is making, especially taking into account the recent AeroItalia Regional fiasco. In 2023, Aeroitalia purchased Romanian Airline AirConnect which, in April 2024, was rebranded to AeroItalia Regional. A license suspension a few months later in November 2024, “usually taken in connection with safety or compliance issues” grounded its commercial flights. AeroItalia Regional was then sold just over a month later to Aerolinee Siciliane. With the AeroItalia now rumoured to float next year, investors may be reasonably cynical about the reason behind the move.
Despite its ambition to become a consumer-focused carrier with a superior cost-per-mile advantage over competitors, the airline’s future looks increasingly uncertain. If Bourgade and Intrieri continue to follow in the footsteps of Donald Trump then perhaps we can expect to see quite a few more examples of “insufficient professionalism”.
