He was second Count of Arona, and greatly expanded his father's banking trade throughout Europe.
His father died in 1449 and shortly after Francesco Sforza captured Milan to dissolve the Republic and become Duke.
Francesco Sforza trusted him and made him his counsellor, even as his father had been to the Visconti.
Filippo, meanwhile, greatly expanded the family banking trade until he was one of the most prominent Italian bankers in the world, with branches in Barcelona and London.
His eldest, Vitaliano II Borromeo, succeeded him as Count of Arona.