The founder of Eataly, Oscar Farinetti, gave an interview in which he spoke a bit about his career and the future, admitting what he himself considers his “greatest remorse,” a story that involves a friend of his.
The interview with Oscar Farinetti
In a few days, Oscar Farinetti, founder of Eataly, will turn seventy. For the occasion, the entrepreneur granted an interview to Corriere della Sera, during which he talked about his personal and professional past.
The entrepreneur, business executive, and writer, born in Alba on September 24, 1954, is the son of the partisan Paolo Farinetti, who was also an entrepreneur and business executive, founder of the Unieuro chain (of which Oscar is currently the owner).
The president of Fico Eataly World, Oscar Farinetti, during the inauguration of the Fico Eataly World agri-food park in Bologna, in November 2017
Farinetti, also the author of dozens of books, began his story by speaking of what he has missed the most, namely his passion for culture: “Having studied little in my youth, then discovering literature, art, and photography at the age of 50. However, I prefer to have remorse than regrets.”
Oscar Farinetti’s greatest remorse
Speaking of remorse, Farinetti recounted what he considers his greatest: “A dear friend of mine had a serious alcohol problem. I tried to help him by offering him a position as a warehouseman, which he held for ten years.”
“But he was stealing; one day the cameras caught him and I had to fire him – he continues to recount – After a month he died, burned alive in his attic because he had fallen asleep while smoking. This thing tore me apart.”
“If I could go back, I wouldn’t fire him – Oscar Farinetti concluded this episode’s recounting – I would explain to my colleagues that keeping him is an act of love.”
The dream in the drawer
Farinetti also spoke about work and “his creature,” Eataly, inaugurated in 2004 and controlled 40% by him, 40% by some cooperative companies of the Coop system, and 20% by an investment fund: “When we opened in New York, I prophesied: we will make 50 million dollars, and everyone said I was crazy. Then I made 84 in the first year. Now it makes 105.”
But Farinetti has not always been a man of great resources, as when he got married he had “not a penny to his name, only debts. My wife saved me, who was a substitute math teacher and then won a position at the San Paolo banking institution: thanks to her, every 27th of the month, 600 thousand lire arrived.”
For the future, however, the recurring thought is to publish a novel, which has actually already been written but is waiting for the publication of 21 short stories first: “On Wikipedia, I am an entrepreneur, business executive, and writer. I would like the writer to move from third to first place.”
Source photo: ANSA