Guido Barilla

Guido Barilla (born 30 July 1958) is an Italian billionaire businessman, and the chairman of Barilla Group, the world's largest pasta company, which is 85% owned by Guido, a sister and two brothers.[1]

Guido Barilla
Born (1958-07-30) 30 July 1958
Milan, Italy
OccupationBusinessman
TitleChairman, Barilla Group
SpouseMarried
Children5
ParentPietro Barilla
RelativesPaolo Barilla (brother)
Luca Barilla (brother)

Early life

Guido Barilla was born on 30 July 1958 in Milan, Italy.[2] He studied in the United States and in Italy, where he studied Philosophy at the Università Statale di Milano.[3]

Career

He started his career in 1982 in the sales department of Barilla France.[3] In 1986, he became a senior manager and led the international expansion of the company.[3] In 1988, he became Barilla deputy chairman, and since October 1993 has been the chairman.[3]

Since 2009, he has been chairman of the Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition, now Fondazione Barilla.[3][4]

In a 2013 radio interview, Barilla stated his opposition to adoptions by same-sex couples and said that he "disagrees" with homosexuals.[5][6] The comments were viewed as homophobic, and, although Barilla apologized for "having offended the sensibilities of many", critics like Alessandro Zan felt the apology was insufficient and encouraged a boycott of Barilla's company.[5][7] The negative reaction led to changes, and a year later, the company received a top rating from the Human Rights Campaign's list of employers who are LGBT-friendly.[8][9][10]

Parma Calcio 1913

In 2015, Barilla became a part owner of the Phoenix club Parma Calcio 1913[11]

Honours

In May 2019, he was awarded the title Knight of the Order of Merit for Labour.[12][13]

Other activities

Personal life

Barilla is married, with five children, and lives in Parma, Italy.[2]

References
  1. "Forbes profile: Guido Barilla". Forbes. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  2. "GUIDO BARILLA - Science for Peace". Scienceforpeace.it. Retrieved 2017-01-23.
  3. "Guido Barilla Biography". Barillagroup.com. Retrieved 2020-06-12.
  4. "Fondazione Barilla Official Website". fondazionebarilla.com/. Retrieved 2022-07-08.
  5. Cavan Sieczkowski (26 September 2013). "Barilla Pasta Won't Feature Gay Families In Ads, Says Critics Can 'Eat Another Brand Of Pasta'". Huffington Post. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  6. Lizzy Davies. "Pasta firm Barilla boycotted over 'classic family' remarks". The Guardian. Retrieved 2017-01-23.
  7. "Italian pasta baron's anti-gay comment prompts boycott call". Reuters. 2013-09-26. Retrieved 2017-01-23.
  8. Somashekhar, Sandhya (2014-11-19). "Human Rights Campaign says Barilla has turned around its policies on LGBT". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2017-01-23.
  9. Wallace, Gregory (2014-11-19). "Barilla goes from worst to first on gay rights - Nov. 19, 2014". Money.cnn.com. Retrieved 2017-01-23.
  10. Buckley, Thomas (7 May 2019). "Barilla Pasta's Turnaround From Homophobia to National Pride". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  11. "'New chapter' begins for Parma Calcio 1913". ESPN.com. July 2, 2015.
  12. "Il Presidente Mattarella ha firmato i decreti di nomina di 25 nuovi Cavalieri del Lavoro". Quirinale.it. Retrieved 2020-06-12.
  13. "Cerimonia per la consegna dell'onorificenza ai Cavalieri del Lavoro". Mise.gov.it. Retrieved 2020-06-12.
  14. Leila Abboud (June 26, 2020), Danone adopts new legal status to reflect social mission Financial Times.
  15. Danone becomes an “Entreprise à Mission” Danone, press release of June 24, 2020.
  16. Members European Round Table of Industrialists.
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