Riccardo Gualino

Riccardo Gualino (25 March 1879 – 6 June 1964) was an Italian business magnate and art collector. He was also a patron and an important film producer. His first business empire was based on lumber from Eastern Europe and included forest concessions, lumber mills, ships and warehouses. The highly leveraged structure collapsed in 1912–13. Gualino was also involved in manufacturing and distributing cement, and during World War I (1914–18) built and operated cargo ships carrying goods such as coal from the United States to Europe. After the war he was engaged in many enterprises, some in partnership with Giovanni Agnelli of FIAT. His activities included banking, manufacture of rayon, confectionery, chemicals and artificial leather.

The Italian economy weakened after a currency revaluation in 1926. Gualino became involved in risky speculations with the French financier Albert Oustric. Their joint enterprises could not survive the world economic crisis of 1929. Gualino failed again in 1930, and lost his freedom for almost two years in 1931–32. He made another recovery after his release and again engaged in a broad range of ventures in various European countries. His Lux Film company produced successful neo-realist films after World War II. Provided by Wikipedia