Gianni Letta (born 15 April 1935) is an Italian journalist and politician. He is a close advisor of

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies f ...

and a member of the advisory board of

Goldman Sachs International Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, Hong ...

Biography

After graduating in law, he started working as a journalist for several daily newspapers, as well as

RAI RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many ter ...

and

ANSA Ansa (Latin for " handle") or ANSA may refer to: Organizations * Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata, Italian news agency ** Ansa Mediterranean or ANSAmed, section of the above * Applied Neuroscience Society of Australasia * Association of Nor ...

. He was editor-in-law of ''

Il Tempo ''Il Tempo'' (meaning ''Time'' in English) is a daily Italian newspaper published in Rome, Italy. History and profile ''Il Tempo'' was founded in Rome by Renato Angiolillo in 1944. At the initial phase the newspaper was a conservative publica ...

'' from 1973 to 1987; that year, he left the newspaper in order to enter into the

Fininvest Finanziaria d'investimento Fininvest S.p.A., known as Fininvest S.p.A., is an Italian holding company controlled by the Berlusconi family and managed by Silvio Berlusconi's eldest daughter Marina Berlusconi. Structure The Fininvest group is c ...

group owned by

. He hosted a number of TV programmes, especially on

Canale 5 Canale 5 () is an Italian free-to-air television channel of Mediaset, owned by MFE - MediaForEurope. It was the first private television network to have a national coverage in Italy in 1980. On 4 December 2012, Mediaset launched Canale 5 HD, a ...

. After Berlusconi's entry into politics, Letta became undersecretary of the first government led by Berlusconi in 1994, an office he took again from 2001 to 2006, and from 2008 to 2011. In 2010 CNN referred to Letta as "Berlusconi's right-hand man." Among Letta's duties for Berlusconi include co-ordinating the Italian government's activities with the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

. Gianni is an extremely close associate of Berlusconi, and was the best man at Berlusconi's wedding to Veronica Lario at the Palazzo Marino in 1990. In 2006, Berlusconi nominated him as the

House of Freedoms The House of Freedoms ( it, Casa delle Libertà, CdL) was a major centre-right political and electoral alliance in Italy, led by Silvio Berlusconi. History The CdL was the successor of the Pole of Freedoms/Pole of Good Government and the Pole f ...

candidate to succeed

Carlo Azeglio Ciampi Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (; 9 December 1920 – 16 September 2016) was an Italian politician and banker who was the prime minister of Italy from 1993 to 1994 and the president of Italy from 1999 to 2006. Biography Education Ciampi was born ...

President of the Italian Republic President most commonly refers to: * President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

. In the first

ballot A ballot is a device used to cast votes in an election and may be found as a piece of paper or a small ball used in secret voting. It was originally a small ball (see blackballing) used to record decisions made by voters in Italy around the 16 ...

held on 8 May 2006, he received 369 votes, not enough to be elected. He received the votes from the right-wing coalition but he was soundly refused by the majority of the house,

L'Unione The Union ( it, L'Unione) was a heterogenous centre-left political and electoral alliance of political parties in Italy. The Union was the direct heir of The Olive Tree coalition which represented the centre-left in the 1996 and 2001 general ele ...

, for being considered as the

factotum Factotum may refer to: *A handyman, employed as a servant * ''Factotum'' (novel), a 1975 novel by Charles Bukowski * ''Factotum'' (film), a 2005 film adaptation of the novel *Factotum (arts organisation), an arts organisation based in Belfast * fac ...

of Silvio Berlusconi. The election was won by

Giorgio Napolitano Giorgio Napolitano (; born 29 June 1925) is an Italian politician who served as president of Italy from 2006 to 2015, the first Italian president to be re-elected to the presidency. Due to his dominant position in Italian politics, some critics ...

, the candidate of L'Unione, on May 10, 2006. On 18 June 2007, Letta was made a member of the advisory board of

, assigned by the bank to "provide strategic consulting on growth opportunities, with a special focus on Italy." Chairman of Goldman Sachs International Peter Sutherland said in the press statement that Letta was "an exceptional talent, with political experience and profound knowledge of Italian politics and the Italian and international market." Letta is the uncle of

Enrico Letta Enrico Letta (; born 20 August 1966) is an Italian politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy from April 2013 to February 2014, leading a grand coalition of centre-left and centre-right parties. Since March 2021, Letta has been secretary ...

, the Prime Minister from the

centre-left Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The ...

Democratic Party. He received the ''America Award'' of the Italy-USA Foundation in 2014. As of September 2020, he is a member of the Italian

Aspen Institute The Aspen Institute is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1949 as the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies. The institute's stated aim is the realization of "a free, just, and equitable society" through seminars, policy programs ...

.executive Committee
aspeninstitute.it/

Honours and awards

* : Grand Cross Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (2002) * : Knight Grand Cross of the Pian Order (2005) * :

Papal gentleman A Papal Gentleman, also called a Gentleman of His Holiness, is a lay attendant of the pope and his papal household in Vatican City. Papal gentlemen serve in the Apostolic Palace near St. Peter's Basilica in ceremonial positions, such as escorting ...

(2008) * : Knight of the Order of the Legion of Honour (2009) * : Gold Collar for Sporting Merit (2015)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Letta, Gianni 1935 births Living people People from Avezzano Italian journalists Italian male journalists Silvio Berlusconi Candidates for President of Italy Goldman Sachs people Papal gentlemen