Mischievous Milanese insiders say that Mr Tronchetti Provera, whose family in effect owns less than 1% of Telecom Italia, wanted to head the telecoms giant because it offered more power and prestige than running Pirelli.

• 尽管他坚信把光纤业务卖给康宁公司和思科公司所得的资金拿来投资是他作为企业家的责任，他也表示要是他早知到意大利电信股票走势的话，他就去买银行了。