[3] A forward, Boniperti is regarded by several pundits, including Mario Sconcerti, as one of Italy's and Juventus's greatest ever players, and is considered by some in the sport, such as Bruno Nicolè, to be Italy's greatest player of all time;[4][5][6][7] with 182 goals in all competitions, Boniperti was the highest goalscorer in Juventus history for more than 40 years, until his record was bested by Alessandro Del Piero on 10 January 2006.

Born in Barengo, Piedmont, Boniperti signed for Juventus at age 16; he had already built himself a reputation prior to this at youth level, as he scored 11 goals in one match.

During Boniperti's last four seasons at the club before his retirement, Juventus was successful in the Italian league, winning the Serie A three times (1957–58, 1959–60 and 1960–61), and the Coppa Italia twice (1958–59 and 1959–60).

[5][12] At the time of his retirement, Boniperti was Juventus' all-time top goalscorer with 182 in all competitions, this record stood for over 40 years before Alessandro Del Piero beat it on 10 January 2006.

Boniperti played for Italy in the 1950 and 1954 FIFA World Cup finals (captaining the team in the latter edition of the tournament), as well as in the 1952 Summer Olympics.

Due to his ball control, technical ability, vision, tactical intelligence, and passing range, he excelled as an assist provider during the final few years of his career, creatively supporting his more offensive teammates John Charles and Omar Sívori.

A short while after his retirement, the Agnelli family offered Boniperti an executive position as a director in the club's management team; in 1971, he was appointed the chairman of the board of directors (Italian: presidente del consiglio di amministrazione), a position he held for many years, and still had a role at the club as one of the honorary chairmen (Italian: Presidenti Onorari, served along with Franzo Grande Stevens).

When players asked for pay rises, Boniperti would point to photographs of recent defeats on the wall and turn them away in shame.

[27] Boniperti's grandson Filippo has followed in his grandfather's footsteps in pursuing a career in football and played for Juventus and the Italy U19 team as a midfielder.