Antonio Percassi

Antonio Percassi (Clusone, June 9, 1953) is an Italian sports executive, entrepreneur, former soccer player (defender), and president of Atalanta.

He is the head of the Odissea Srl holding company, which includes its own brands (KIKO, Madina, Womo, and Bullfrog in cosmetics, and Vergelio in footwear), a series of shopping centers, and the aforementioned Atalanta football club. He is also responsible for the management and development of the sales networks of major international brands (LEGO, Starbucks, Victoria's Secret, Nike, and Gucci).

Biography

Player

A tenacious defender with a solid physique, he rose through the ranks of Atalanta, making his debut not yet eighteen years old in the Serie B championship. The following year he did not find playing time, delaying his Serie A debut until the 1972–73 season. Having become a pillar of the defense, he played seven seasons with the black-and-blue jersey, until his transfer to Cesena, when the Bergamo club was forced to arrange a swap to re-sign Ezio Bertuzzo, the team’s top scorer the previous season, who had been sold to Cesena a few months earlier. With the white-and-black team, he played two league matches, then ended his football career at age 25 to devote himself full-time to entrepreneurial activities.

Sports executive

After the death of president Cesare Bortolotti, in the 1990–91 season, he assumed the presidency of Atalanta, the club where he had long played. His strategy focused heavily on marketing, image, and fan engagement, investing significantly both in player acquisitions and—above all—in the youth sector, revitalized with the arrival of Mino Favini from Como. He resigned during the 1993–94 season after a disastrous campaign that saw the black-and-blue team relegated to Serie B: he was succeeded by Ivan Ruggeri. He returned to lead the Bergamo club on 4 June 2010, replacing Alessandro Ruggeri, Ivan’s son. In the 2010–11 season, Atalanta won the Serie B championship, returning to the top flight.

After achieving a string of safe finishes in subsequent years, in 2016–17 the team coached by Gian Piero Gasperini finished fourth, qualifying for the UEFA Europa League but then eliminated in the round of 32 by Borussia Dortmund; in the summer, Percassi purchased the stadium from the Municipality. After finishing seventh the following year, again qualifying for the Europa League (exiting in the play-offs to Copenhagen), Atalanta made the big leap in 2018–19 by qualifying for the UEFA Champions League with a third-place finish, a position confirmed in the next two seasons. In the Champions League, the team reached the quarter-finals in 2019–20, eliminated by PSG; in 2020–21, they reached the round of 16, eliminated by Real Madrid; and in 2021–22, they exited in the group stage. Notably, there were also three Coppa Italia finals lost in 2018–19, 2020–21, and 2023–24 against Lazio and Juventus. In the 2023–24 season, his Atalanta won the UEFA Europa League.

In February 2022, Percassi sold the majority of the club to a consortium of U.S. entrepreneurs led by Stephen Pagliuca, Managing Partner and Co-owner of the Boston Celtics and Co-chairman of Bain Capital, one of the world’s leading investment firms; Antonio and Luca Percassi continued to hold the positions of President and CEO respectively, while Pagliuca became Co-chairman.

Under investigation since 2016, along with his son and other executives, on charges of tax evasion and false invoicing concerning the transfer of certain players, in November 2022 the prosecutors requested acquittal for the Percassis, a request granted by the Naples Court in March 2023.

Entrepreneur

In 1976, he began his entrepreneurial activity in real estate, a venture he continued when, after meeting Luciano Benetton and leaving Cesena’s squad, he opened the first monobrand Benetton stores in Bergamo. Over the years, he opened United Colors, Zerododici, Sisley, and Playlife stores in Italy and abroad. In 2001, thanks to a joint venture with Amancio Ortega, chairman of the Inditex textile group, Percassi opened the first Zara stores in Italy.

He then contributed to developing the retail network of various brands (Nike, Levi’s, Gucci, Tommy Hilfiger, Ferrari, Ralph Lauren, Victoria’s Secret). In 1997, he decided to focus on proprietary brands by creating Kiko Milano in cosmetics; in 2007, he formed a 50% partnership with Flavio Briatore for the clothing brand Billionaire Italian Couture, a luxury tailored line. In 2012, he acquired Madina, a historic Milanese company in women’s cosmetics, and subsequently introduced men’s lines with Womo and Bullfrog. On 18 January 2013, he transferred all his family’s real estate shares to his brothers Santo and Rino and nephew Francesco, receiving in return full ownership of other holdings within the Percassi Group.

In 2014, he acquired 3.9% of Alitalia. In December of the same year, he obtained a €152 million loan from a consortium of banks to support Kiko’s expansion (under the leadership of one of his sons, Stefano, the number of stores reached 990 by 2016). In March 2015, he acquired the Milano-based footwear brand Vergelio with a network of 11 stores.

In 2016, he diversified into other sports by purchasing, from bankruptcy, the “Ai colli di Bergamo” 9-hole golf course complex in Longuelo. He secured an exclusive contract with LEGO for opening Lego stores in Italy (about a dozen in two years), closed the dedicated Ralph Lauren and Ferrari retail networks, while expanding those for Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works, and sold the majority of Billionaire Italian Couture to Philipp Plein. He also entered the food service sector: he became the sole licensee of Starbucks in Italy, established a partnership with the Japanese Wagamama in catering, and launched the brands Piadineria and Caio in addition to the Da30Polenta brand.

In 2017, after opening Torino Outlet Village in Settimo Torinese in March, his business volume was estimated to exceed €800 million. The group under the Odissea holding was also restructured:

• Percassi Cosmetics – manages proprietary brands Kiko Milano (with 950 monobrand stores across Europe, the USA, and Turkey), Madina (historic Milanese company founded in 1993 and acquired in 2012), Womo, and Bullfrog (inspired by the traditional barber shop).
• Percassi Food & Beverage – manages Da30Polenta (first dedicated polenta shop opened in May 2014 at Oriocenter), Wagamama (first restaurant opened in 2016), Starbucks Coffee (first Italian store opened in central Milan at the end of 2018), Casa Maioli (partnership to open a series of piadinerie, first in February 2017 at Oriocenter).
• Percassi Retail – operates Gucci boutiques (in Palermo, Bari, and Turin), 18 Nike stores (first opened in 2012), Lego stores (first opened summer 2016 at Oriocenter), the Italian retail network for Victoria’s Secret (lingerie and beauty products), and Vergelio footwear stores under the Vergelio, Marilena, and Vierre banners.
• Percassi Real Estate – manages Oriocenter shopping center in Orio al Serio, Antegnate Shopping Center (100 shops and a hypermarket in Bergamo), Franciacorta Outlet Village (near Brescia), Valdichiana Outlet Village (in the province of Arezzo), Sicilia Outlet Village (in the province of Enna), Torino Outlet Village, and Roma Outlet Village in Soratte.
• Atalanta, the football club of which he held 38.7% of the shares as of February 2022 after selling the majority.