[4][5] In the late 19th century, Agnelli heard about the invention of the then-new horseless carriage and immediately saw an opportunity for using his engineering and entrepreneurial skills.

[6] In 1898, he met Count Emanuele Cacherano di Bricherasio, who was looking for investors for his horseless carriage project; Agnelli sensed the opportunity and Fiat was founded in 1899.

[14] When the revolt died down and a workers' delegation, after a failed attempt at self-management, handed him the keys to the factories by demobilizing the armed pickets, he did not seek retaliation.

[16] They invested in two enterprises in the United States; the Marine & Commerce Corporation of America exported coal and the International Shipbuilding Company made motorized vessels.

[19] In 1920, Gualino and Agnelli participated in recapitalization of the private bank Jean de Fernex and bought a third of the shares of Alfredo Frassati, publisher of La Stampa.

[20] Gualino and Agnelli were also involved in a proposal to link Milan, Genoa, and Turin with a high-speed railway and in various projects in cement and automobiles.

[23] His newspaper La Stampa distanced themselves from Mussolini; thanks to his connections with the House of Savoy, he could assert autonomy from the Italian fascist regime.

[25] In addition, he sought as accountant Vittorio Valletta, who was known to the Fascist regime for his social democratic ideas, membership in Freemasonry, and clandestine connections with exiled anti-fascists in France, including Giuseppe Saragat.

The Fascist secret police kept Angelli under control, and one report stood up in reference to a meeting between Agnelli and Cesare Pavese, who introduced Mila to him.

In the words of Castronovo, Agnelli's Piedmontism "combined the Savoyard tradition, the sense of almost military discipline, and the spirit of conquest: he had been educated in the manner of the Piedmontese nobility, that same elite that initially had struggled to welcome him, dismissing him as a provincial.

After the war ended, he was accused together with Valletta and Giancarlo Camerana by a commission from the National Liberation Committee of collaboration with the Fascist regime and was temporarily deprived of ownership of his companies.

[26][27] While they shared mutual benefits in the field of war orders, Fiat always maintained a line of independence from the Fascist regime's totalitarian aspirations.