He acquired the nickname Il Duro ("The Tough Guy") referring to his management style while he was serving as the head of Fiat.

[3] His father worked as a post office worker who was dismissed from his job due to his opposition to the fascist government of Benito Mussolini.

Romiti later described how he stole a bag of flour from a deposit during the German occupation of his hometown and that it was "welcomed like manna at home".

Shortly afterwards, he played a part in breaking up a strike by factory workers, which was started when Fiat proposed dismissing 14,000 employees.

Romiti, together with approximately 40,000 managers from the company and other white-collar workers, demonstrated in Turin calling for the right to work.

He laid blame on the Red Brigades, contending that they had pervaded the leadership of the Italian General Confederation of Labour.

[4] In April 1997, Romiti was convicted of falsifying the company accounts, committing tax fraud, and making illegal payments to political parties for the period between 1980 and 1992.

Finding Romiti guilty, the court in Fiat's headquarters of Turin handed him an eighteen-month suspended prison term.