Piero Pirelli, born Piero Carlo Pirelli, (27 January 1881 – 7 August 1956), was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

entrepreneur and the son of Giovanni Battista Pirelli, the founder of

Pirelli Pirelli & C. S.p.A. is an Italian multinational tyre manufacturer based in the city of Milan, Italy. The company, which has been listed on the Borsa Italiana since 1922, is the 5th-largest tyre manufacturer, and is focused on the consumer pro ...

Biography

Born in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

to Giovanni Battista Pirelli and Maria Sormani. He studied in

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

and graduated with a degree in legal sciences. In 1904, he traveled to the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

to learn more about

electrical cables Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

. He returned to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

to use his knowledge to further improve his father's business. Piero enlisted in the

Italian army The Italian Army ( []) is the Army, land force branch of the Italian Armed Forces. The army's history dates back to the Italian unification in the 1850s and 1860s. The army fought in colonial engagements in China and Italo-Turkish War, Libya. It ...

as a cavalry officer, and participated in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He returned from the Italian front in 1918. Upon returning, he went back to the family business, of which he became president of in 1932 after the death of his father. Passionate about sports, he created the "Pirelli Sports Group" in 1918 by ordering the construction of the "Pirelli field" in front of the Bicocca degli Arcimboldi in Viale Sarca. From 1909 to 1928, he held the position of president of

AC Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

. Serving as president, he built the

San Siro stadium San Siro is a association football, football stadium in the San Siro (district), San Siro district of Milan, Italy. It has a seating capacity of 75,817, making it the List of football stadiums in Italy, largest stadium in Italy and one of the ...

at his own expense in 1926. His tyre company

have also been the main shirt sponsor of neighbouring club

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

for 27 years since the 1995–96 season up until the 2021–22 season, when the club signed a partnership with fan engagement platform ''

Socios.com Socios.com is a blockchain-based platform for sports and entertainment organizations to monetize their fan bases. The platform allows users to pay cryptocurrency to participate in polls related to sports teams. The platform is operated by the Med ...

''. In 1948, and on the 50th anniversary of the

FIGC The Italian Football Federation (, ; FIGC ), known colloquially as (), is the governing body of football in Italy. It is based in Rome and the technical department is in Coverciano, Florence. It manages and coordinates the Italian football l ...

, he was awarded the title of ''Pioneer of Italian football''. He is buried in the family tomb at the

Cimitero Monumentale di Milano The Cimitero Monumentale ( " Monumental Cemetery") is one of the two largest cemeteries in Milan, Italy, the other one being the Cimitero Maggiore. It is noted for the abundance of artistic tombs and monuments. Designed by the architect Carlo ...

.Municipality of Milan, App di ''ricerca defunti Not 2 4get.''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pirelli, Piero Businesspeople from Milan 19th-century Italian businesspeople 20th-century Italian businesspeople AC Milan chairmen and investors 1881 births 1956 deaths Italian military personnel of World War I