Snam dispatch center in San Donato Milanese, Italy.
Snam.
Little-known in his home country of Italy, Romano Minozzi, 85, has quietly amassed an estimated $1.6 billion fortune through shrewd investments in the Italian energy sector. Though he found his first pot of gold in ceramics, the bulk of his current wealth lies in his shareholdings of Snam and Italgas, two natural gas companies that trade on the Milan stock exchange. Together, they make up more than 80% of his net worth, and make Minozzi one of the latest entrants to the Forbes 2020 World’s Billionaires list.
Minozzi chalked up his passion for investing to his first job out of college at a small bank in the city of Modena, according to a May 2019 interview with Italian daily Corriere della Sera. Armed with an economics degree from the nearby University of Bologna, Minozzi reportedly dipped his toes into the stock market, buying and selling small amounts of shares in his off-hours. That experience pushed him to take a much bigger risk in 1961, when he cobbled together enough money — including a roughly $500,000 (300 million lira) loan from investment bank Mediobanca — to buy a small ceramics company that was about to go bust. He renamed it Iris, after the Greek goddess of the rainbow.
The business flourished as the Italian economy continued its post-war boom through the 1970s and 80s, reaping the benefits of its location at the heart of Italy’s ceramics industry. The firm, which now hauls in more than $550 million in annual revenue from bathroom tiles and wall slabs, also has subsidiaries in the United States, Mexico, Spain and Portugal.
“I’m a ceramics industrialist, I bake earth,” Minozzi told Corriere della Sera. “In finance you have to be detached, but ceramics is a heavy industry. You have to put your heart into it.”
His ceramics success enabled Minozzi to focus his attention on the stock market at the turn of the millennium, including investments in Mediobanca, the bank that had loaned him the much-needed starter funds, and a three-year stint on the board of Ferrari, whose storied headquarters are located down the road from his Iris in the town of Maranello.
Minozzi emerged as a major player in Italy’s energy sector in 2010, when he purchased a reported 4.2% stake in Rome-based electricity transmission grid operator Terna for $173 million. Three years later, he sold his shares for approximately $465 million, then bought a 3% stake in Snam in 2016 for about $660 million. He obtained shares in Italgas when it was spun off from Snam later that year. He is now the largest individual shareholder of both companies, controlling about 7.2% of Snam shares and 3.7% of Italgas stock. The two firms have a market capitalization of $13.7 billion and $4.2 billion, respectively.
Snam and Italgas shares have both fallen by roughly 15% since the beginning of March — a better performance than the 21% decline recorded by the Italian benchmark stock index, the FTSE MIB. Despite the catastrophic economic impact of the country’s coronavirus lockdown, utility networks like Snam and Italgas face limited risk from the crisis, according to Fitch Ratings analysts. On March 12, Snam announced a $22 million donation to the Italian healthcare system and nonprofits to aid their efforts in combating COVID-19.
“Minozzi is a long-term investor, attentive to corporate governance and sustainability,” a Snam representative told Forbes. “He’s believed in the company since he received shares in Italgas, we see him as a long-term and stable investor,” says an Italgas spokesperson. Minozzi and Iris Ceramica declined multiple requests for comment for this story.
Minozzi handed the reins of his ceramics empire to his daughter Federica in December 2017, when she took over as CEO of Iris. While he’s no longer involved in the day-to-day operations of the company, he still lives in the hamlet of Spilamberto, a short drive away from Iris’ headquarters. His investment portfolio also includes a range of smaller holdings, such as stakes in Gazprom, Generali, Banco Santander and AT&T, according to Iris Ceramica’s 2018 annual report.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was down more than 200 points in late-morning trading, weighed down by losses in the technology, base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets also fell.
The S&P/TSX composite index was down 239.24 points at 22,749.04.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 312.36 points at 40,443.39. The S&P 500 index was down 80.94 points at 5,422.47, while the Nasdaq composite was down 380.17 points at 16,747.49.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.80 cents US compared with 74.00 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down US$1.07 at US$68.08 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up less than a penny at US$2.26 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$2.10 at US$2,541.00 an ounce and the December copper contract was down four cents at US$4.10 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 150 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in technology, financial and energy stocks, while U.S. stock markets also pushed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 171.41 points at 23,298.39.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 278.37 points at 41,369.79. The S&P 500 index was up 38.17 points at 5,630.35, while the Nasdaq composite was up 177.15 points at 17,733.18.
The Canadian dollar traded for 74.19 cents US compared with 74.23 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was up US$1.75 at US$76.27 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up less than a penny at US$2.10 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$18.70 at US$2,556.50 an ounce and the December copper contract was down less than a penny at US$4.22 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 29, 2024.
The crypto market has recently experienced a significant downturn, mirroring broader risk asset sell-offs. Over the past week, Bitcoin’s price dropped by 24%, reaching $53,000, while Ethereum plummeted nearly a third to $2,340. Major altcoins also suffered, with Cardano down 27.7%, Solana 36.2%, Dogecoin 34.6%, XRP 23.1%, Shiba Inu 30.1%, and BNB 25.7%.
The severe downturn in the crypto market appears to be part of a broader flight to safety, triggered by disappointing economic data. A worse-than-expected unemployment report on Friday marked the beginning of a technical recession, as defined by the Sahm Rule. This rule identifies a recession when the three-month average unemployment rate rises by at least half a percentage point from its lowest point in the past year.
Friday’s figures met this threshold, signaling an abrupt economic downshift. Consequently, investors sought safer assets, leading to declines in major stock indices: the S&P 500 dropped 2%, the Nasdaq 2.5%, and the Dow 1.5%. This trend continued into Monday with further sell-offs overseas.
The crypto market’s rapid decline raises questions about its role as either a speculative asset or a hedge against inflation and recession. Despite hopes that crypto could act as a risk hedge, the recent crash suggests it remains a speculative investment.
Since the downturn, the crypto market has seen its largest three-day sell-off in nearly a year, losing over $500 billion in market value. According to CoinGlass data, this bloodbath wiped out more than $1 billion in leveraged positions within the last 24 hours, including $365 million in Bitcoin and $348 million in Ether.
Khushboo Khullar of Lightning Ventures, speaking to Bloomberg, argued that the crypto sell-off is part of a broader liquidity panic as traders rush to cover margin calls. Khullar views this as a temporary sell-off, presenting a potential buying opportunity.
Josh Gilbert, an eToro market analyst, supports Khullar’s perspective, suggesting that the expected Federal Reserve rate cuts could benefit crypto assets. “Crypto assets have sold off, but many investors will see an opportunity. We see Federal Reserve rate cuts, which are now likely to come sharper than expected, as hugely positive for crypto assets,” Gilbert told Coindesk.
Despite the recent volatility, crypto continues to make strides toward mainstream acceptance. Notably, Morgan Stanley will allow its advisors to offer Bitcoin ETFs starting Wednesday. This follows more than half a year after the introduction of the first Bitcoin ETF. The investment bank will enable over 15,000 of its financial advisors to sell BlackRock’s IBIT and Fidelity’s FBTC. This move is seen as a significant step toward the “mainstreamization” of crypto, given the lengthy regulatory and company processes in major investment banks.
The recent crypto market downturn highlights its volatility and the broader economic concerns affecting all risk assets. While some analysts see the current situation as a temporary sell-off and a buying opportunity, others caution against the speculative nature of crypto. As the market evolves, its role as a mainstream alternative asset continues to grow, marked by increasing institutional acceptance and new investment opportunities.
