[1][2] He is also the president and founder of Garage Italia Customs [it] and Independent Ideas,[3] as well as a member of the board of directors of Ferrari N.V. and responsible for the promotion of the Fiat Group brand.
"[26] He graduated from the lycée et collège Victor-Duruy in Paris and from the European Business School London in international relations.
[27] From their father, the two Elkanns share the Jewish faith, which represented the first time that young heirs brought with them values and ethics that were different from those of the Catholic Agnelli family.
[27] As is tradition in the education of the offspring of the Agnelli family, Elkann began his career in 1994 as a metal worker on the assembly line of Piaggio in Pontedera under the pseudonym of Lapo Rossi.
[28] During this period, he also participated in a strike action to demand an improvement of the uncomfortable working conditions in the assembly line.
[29][30] In 2001, Elkann worked as a personal assistant to Henry Kissinger,[31][32] who had just been appointed chairman of the 9/11 Commission and was an old friend of his grandfather, Gianni Agnelli.
[34][35][36] In 2004, with the appointment of his brother John Elkann as the group's vice-chairman, he became responsible for promotion for the three brands: Fiat, Alfa Romeo, and Lancia.
[39][40] On 4 July 2007, Elkann founded the Independent Ideas creative agency together with Alberto Fusignani and Ivanmaria Vele, whose activity was documented for three months in the Idee in progress program of the satellite television channel Fox Life.
[41] From 30 October 2007 to June 2008, he was honorary president of the Italian Volleyball League club Sparkling Volley Milano; he is an international ambassador for the Milan Triennale, an ambassador for Tel HaShomer Hospital in Tel Aviv,[42] and a board member of various companies, such as the auction house Phillips.
[33] Elkann and the Independent Ideas agency participated together with the Centro Stile Fiat [it] and Frida Giannini in the "500 by Gucci" project, launched in Milan on 23 February 2011,[43][44][45] and at the Geneva Motor Show on 1 March 2011.
[51][52] In January 2017, Elkann joined the board of directors of Ferrari N.V., the holding company that controls the homonymous car manufacturer.
[26] In December 2017, he inaugurated in Milan, in Piazzale Accursio, in an old Agip service station built by Mario Bacciocchi in the 1950s and renovated by Michele De Lucchi, Garage Italia Food & Restaurant, a joint venture with chef Carlo Cracco, to combine food-engines events,[53] that was announced in 2015.
In a press release, the company said: "Despite the commitment made by management and the support of shareholders, Italia Independent has not managed to achieve the results envisaged in the business plans also due to external circumstances which have further aggravated the situation: the Covid emergency and the consequent lockdowns in various geographies, the instability of the markets, and the adverse macroeconomic context which has caused an increase and difficulty in procuring raw materials and the consequent growth in inflation.
"[63] Elkann is an art lover with a collection of contemporary art that includes original paintings by Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Damien Hirst, Roy Lichtenstein,[64][65] and rising contemporary artists, such as Teddy McDonald and Ian Berry,[66] who made his portrait out of denim.
[38] This was followed by the Abarth 500 Pied de Poule,[86] which was acquired in 2020 for €37,700 from a Swiss investment vehicle launched by the Jalopy LTD fund.
In an interview to Oggi, Elkann said: "[Gianni Agnelli] saved the Prancing Horse, preventing it from being sold to the Americans.
[150] That same month, he criticized Evelina Christillin, a member of the FIFA Council, for her negative comments about the budget situation of the club.
About his inspiration from the nautical world, he said: "I don't like houses, so I decided that this place would be redesigned to look like a ship and evoke the ocean.
I also find it quite shameful that none of the institutions were present in Lampedusa due to the tragedy of migrants that has taken place – as an Italian it makes me sad.
"[158] About the role of Europe, he said: "Italy is the country that has the largest number of people arriving from various areas of the world where there are wars, suffering, and pain.
[167] On 7 October 2021, Elkann married the Portuguese former rally raid racer Joana Lemos,[168] and they moved to Lisbon.
Through the previous marriage of Lemos to Manuel Reymão Nogueira, which ended in 2014 after 18 years, Elkann is the stepfather of two children: Tomás and Martim.
[170][171] Subsequently, he resigned from his positions in Fiat and moved to Arizona, where he began rehabilitation therapy, to continue with a period of convalescence in a family residence in Miami.
In addition to working with the Laps Foundation, a non-profit organization created in 2016 in support of children with dyslexia, learning disabilities, abuses, addictions, and discriminations,[183][184] he was involved in supporting the Italian Red Cross in the donations of shopping vouchers intended for the most needy families during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy.
[191] In an October 2020 interview to the Corriere della Sera, Elkann described his mother, Margherita Agnelli de Pahlen,[192] as struggling with self-harm and accused her of destroying the family,[193][194][195] having it split in two.
[200] In October 2005, Elkann was found unconscious and naked in the apartment of Donato Broco, who was described as a 53-year-old transsexual prostitute known as Patrizia.
[201] The Italian photographer Fabrizio Corona attempted to blackmail the Agnelli family for compromising information against Elkann.
Marco Durante, head of LaPresse [it], an international photographic agency, was hired by the Agnelli family to negotiate with Corona and manage the situation.
[202][203] In early December 2014, as reported by Il Giorno, Elkann was secretly filmed during a party with two brothers who allegedly blackmailed him in exchange for silence.