Mr. Fix It

Paolo Scaroni has been the CEO of Italian energy giant Eni since June 2005. Prior to that he worked for a number of companies and has a solid reputation of fixing ailing companies and making them competitive.

Scaroni was born on November 28, 1946 in Vicenza, Italy.   In 1969 he obtained a degree in economics from Bocconi University in Milan.  Scaroni then worked for Chevron for three years then headed off to New York and studied at Columbia Business School earning and MBA degree. After graduating he worked at McKinsey & Company then at French company Saint Gobain where he held a number of positions eventually becoming president of the flat-glass division in 1984.

Scaroni then worked for Technit ad was deputy chairman and CEO from 1985 to 1996. His next career move was going to the UK and joining Pilkington the company that invented the float-glass process used in the automotive industry. The company was close to shutting down due to complacency over the years. As CEO he cut costs and improved production bringing the company back to life.

In 2002, no less than the Italian government hand-picked Scaroni to become the CEO of Enel. This energy company was 68 percent owned by the Italian government and was losing more than $1 billion annually due to its decision to move from energy to telecommunications.  He once again streamlined operations and improved efficiency so that the company would be ready for full privatization.

Having done his task he moved on to become the CEO of Eni in June 2005. Eni operates in 85 countries and has 79,000 employees.