Italian government shakes up Leonardo leadership, replacing Cingolani as CEO

ROME — Leonardo CEO Roberto Cingolani is to be replaced at the helm of the Italian defense company in a surprise move by the Italian government which sources said was related to his decision to shift Leonardo’s focus away from kinetic products as wars rage around the world.

At the end of his three year mandate running the Italian state-controlled firm, Cingolani appeared on course for another term after overseeing a slew of new industry team-ups and a major rise in share value .

But on Thursday the Italian government said its pick for new CEO was Lorenzo Mariani, currently head of the Italian arm of European missile house MBDA.

Mariani is no stranger to Leonardo. When Cingolani was named CEO three years ago, Mariani was appointed co-general manager, effectively Cingolani’s number two.

A year ago he was moved over to MBDA, a company he had worked at before his arrival at Leonardo.

Previously he had also held down various roles at Leonardo including commercial director and head of electronics, making him very much a company man. Before starting his career he served as an officer in the Italian navy.

“Mariani is a safe choice, a top manager who has been at Leonardo before, knows the industry and military interlocutors,” said Alessandro Marrone, who heads the defense program at Rome think tank IAI.

“There will be no learning curve as defense budgets accelerate,” he added.

For his part, Cingolani oversaw a four-fold increase in Leonardo’s share price during his three year tenure, as the defense sector flourished thanks to rearmament programs triggered by the Ukraine war.

Last month Leonardo predicted it would see annual orders of €32 billion ($37 billion) a year by 2030, up from €23.8 billion last year, and announced a bullish new industrial plan.

No explanation has been given by the Italian government led by Giorgia Meloni for the change in management, and the decision drew criticism from opposition politician Carlo Calenda.

“It’s absurd to remove Cingolani like this without any explanations in a sensitive sector where he was appreciated by investors and partners. And it’s necessary for the government to clarify whether there are reasons of security or performance,” he posted on X.

Leonardo’s share price dropped in early trading on Friday.

A trained physicist, Cingolani served as “green transition” minister in a former Italian government in 2021 before Meloni picked him to lead Leonardo in 2023.

Meloni chose him despite her defense minister Guido Crosetto pushing at the time for the appointment of Mariani as CEO.

Cingolani forged new team-ups with Turkey’s Baykar to build drones in Italy and with Rheinmetall to build tanks in Italy.

He also stressed the need for Leonardo to increase its focus on cyber security and digitalization and recently launched Leonardo’s new Michelangelo Dome, a multi-layered air defense system.

Two Italian experts who declined to be named said Cingolani’s focus on non-kinetic programs convinced the government to opt instead for Mariani, who is more closely linked to nuts and bolts armaments programs.

“Cingolani was keener on the non-kinetic portfolio at Leonardo, but high-end, large-scale conflicts are the name of the game right now,” said one analyst. “Hard core defense is at the top of the agenda for armed forces and companies. You need deep engagement with customers about hard core needs,” he added.

A second source who was knowledgeable of the government’s decision said, “Cingolani put the focus on cyber programs when Mariani was at MBDA guaranteeing accelerated extra production of missiles which were perhaps simpler but more essential at this time,” he said.

The source noted that Pierroberto Folgiero, the CEO of another state controlled Italian firm, Fincantieri, had also promised the government a reduction in production times for naval vessels.

Tom Kington is the Italy correspondent for Defense News.

罗马——意大利政府出人意料地撤换了莱昂纳多公司首席执行官罗伯托·辛戈拉尼，此举与他决定将莱昂纳多公司的业务重心从动能产品转移出去有关，而此时世界各地战火纷飞。

在执掌这家意大利国有控股公司三年任期结束时，辛戈拉尼似乎有望连任，因为他主导了一系列新的行业合作，并且股价大幅上涨。

但周四，意大利政府表示，他们选择的新任首席执行官是洛伦佐·马里亚尼，他目前是欧洲导弹公司 MBDA 意大利分公司的负责人。

马里亚尼对莱昂纳多并不陌生。三年前辛戈拉尼被任命为首席执行官时，马里亚尼被任命为联合总经理，实际上是辛戈拉尼的二把手。

一年前，他被调到 MBDA 公司，这是他在加入莱昂纳多之前曾工作过的一家公司。

此前，他曾在莱昂纳多公司担任过多个职位，包括商务总监和电子部门主管，可谓是一位十足的公司人。在开始职业生涯之前，他曾是意大利海军的一名军官。

“马里亚尼是一个稳妥的选择，他是一位高级管理人员，之前曾在莱昂纳多公司工作过，了解行业和军方人士，”罗马智库 IAI 国防项目负责人亚历山德罗·马罗内说道。

“随着国防预算的加速增长，不会有任何学习曲线，”他补充道。

辛戈拉尼在任的三年间，莱昂纳多公司的股价上涨了四倍，这得益于乌克兰战争引发的重新武装计划，国防工业蓬勃发展。

上个月，莱昂纳多预测，到 2030 年，其年订单量将达到 320 亿欧元（370 亿美元），高于去年的 238 亿欧元，并宣布了一项乐观的新产业计划。

由乔治娅·梅洛尼领导的意大利政府没有对管理层变动做出任何解释，这一决定也招致了反对派政治家卡洛·卡伦达的批评。

“在这样一个敏感领域，辛戈拉尼深受投资者和合作伙伴的赏识，却没有任何解释就被撤职，这太荒谬了。政府有必要澄清，撤职的原因究竟是出于安全考虑还是业绩考量，”他在X上发帖说。

莱昂纳多股价周五早盘下跌。

辛戈拉尼是一位受过专业训练的物理学家，在梅洛尼于 2023 年选择他领导莱昂纳多之前，他曾在 2021 年担任意大利前政府的“绿色转型”部长。

尽管当时的国防部长圭多·克罗塞托力主任命马里亚尼为首席执行官，梅洛尼还是选择了马里亚尼。

Cingolani 与土耳其的 Baykar 公司建立了新的合作关系，在意大利生产无人机；他还与莱茵金属公司建立了新的合作关系，在意大利生产坦克。

他还强调莱昂纳多需要更加重视网络安全和数字化，并于近期推出了莱昂纳多的新型米开朗基罗穹顶，这是一个多层防空系统。

两位不愿透露姓名的意大利专家表示，辛戈拉尼专注于非动能项目，这促使政府选择马里亚尼，后者与实实在在的武器装备项目联系更为紧密。

一位分析师表示：“辛戈拉尼更看好莱昂纳多公司的非动能武器产品组合，但目前高端、大规模冲突才是关键所在。” 他补充道：“核心防御是军队和企业最为关注的议题。你需要与客户深入沟通，了解他们的核心需求。”

另一位了解政府决定的消息人士表示：“辛戈拉尼将重点放在网络项目上，而马里亚尼在MBDA公司时，则保证加快导弹的额外生产，这些导弹或许更简单，但在当时更为重要。”

消息人士指出，另一家意大利国有企业芬坎蒂尼集团的首席执行官皮埃罗贝托·福尔杰罗也曾向政府承诺缩短海军舰艇的生产时间。

汤姆·金顿是《防务新闻》驻意大利记者。