Roberto Rocca

The elder Rocca was an engineering apprentice who would later become a member of the board of directors of the Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale (IRI), the centerpiece of the corporate state advanced by Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.

[1] During World War II, Roberto Rocca enlisted in the Italian Navy, serving from June 1942 until September 8, 1943, as a Second Lieutenant in naval engineering on board a submarine.

[2] [3] His father's new establishment, Techint, prospered during the administration of populist President Juan Perón, and Rocca enrolled at MIT, earning a degree in science at the end of 1949.

Techint participated in the privatization drive adopted by President Carlos Menem in the early 1990s, purchasing a majority stake in Argentina's then-leading steel manufacturer, the state-owned Somisa [es], in 1992.

A further joint venture was entered into with Tamsa, in Mexico, and a controlling stake was purchased in Sidor (the leading steelmaker in Venezuela) in 1998, Confab (Brazil), in 1999, and in NKK (Japan), in 2000, making it the first Japanese steel company in foreign majority ownership.