[1] After studying at the University of Bologna, Andrea Pignataro later received a doctorate in math from Imperial College London.

While working at Salomon Brothers, Pignataro lead a joint venture with Pisa-based software firm List Holdings.

[1][2] Pignataro also founded an investment firm with fellow traders after leaving Salomon Brothers but by the early 2000s, he was fully focused on ION.

ION stated it had been provided with only "limited due diligence access" with regards to Fidessa and would carry out a deeper review once the deal was completed.

[6] In May 2019, ION acquired Acuris from BC Partners for £1.35 billion to expand its product offerings for capital markets.

Following this and another failed bid for a financial services software business in Switzerland, Pignataro decided to consolidate control of ION by taking out loans to buy out Carlyle's stake.

Eventually the Broadway Technology deal proceeded with Bloomberg L.P acquiring the fixed income business separately.

[2][11] In recent times, ION avoids using public markets for funding and instead relies on private debt to finance its acquisitions.

[1][12] ION had to resort to private debt to fund the Acuris acquisition after failing twice to come to an agreement in the syndicated loan market earlier during that year.

[1][12] In September 2019, Moody's downgraded Ion Trading, the vehicle that owns Fidessa, into junk status because "the company had paid substantial dividends" instead of paying down debt.

The government was concerned that if ION were unable to make payments on Prelios’ debt, there would be repercussions for the broader Italian financial system.

[13] After month of back and forth negotiations, the government cleared the deal after imposing conditions on ION which have not been made public.

This comes in part due to Pignataro's management style, where information is tightly controlled among a close circle of fewer than ten advisers.

However Bloomberg News states he is the most powerful figure in Italian Finance and is likely one of the richest people in Italy although due to the complex debt structures of the business, it is difficult to estimate his net worth.