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The story
Founded by Giovanni Battista Alberto Pirelli on Jan 28, 1872, in Milan.1
Founded in Milan in 1872 by Giovanni Battista Pirelli (1848–1932), the company initially specialised in rubber and derivative processes and also made scuba diving rebreathers and dry suits used by Italian frogmen during World War II. Thereafter, Pirelli's activities were primarily focused on the production of tyre and cables (for energy and telecommunications). In 2005, Pirelli sold its cable division to Goldman Sachs, which changed the new group's name to Prysmian. In the 1950s, Alberto Pirelli commissioned the building of a skyscraper, Pirelli Tower, in the same Milanese area that housed the very first Pirelli factory during the 19th century.
In 1974, Pirelli invented the "wide radial tyre", upon a request from the Lancia rally racing team for a tyre strong enough to withstand the power of the new Lancia Stratos. At that time, racing tyres were either slick tyres made with the cross ply technique (very wide tyres with a reduced sidewall height), or radial tyres, which were too narrow to withstand the Stratos' power and did not provide enough grip. Both were unusable for the Lancia Stratos, as the radials were destroyed within 10 km, and the slicks too stiff. Lancia asked Pirelli for a solution, and in 1975 Pirelli created a wide tyre with a reduced sidewall height like a slick but with a radial structure. Subsequently, Porsche started using the same tyres with the Porsche 911 Turbo. In 1988, Pirelli acquired the Armstrong Rubber Company, which was headquartered in New Haven, Connecticut, US for $190 million.
In 2000, Pirelli sold its terrestrial fibre optic cables business to Cisco and its optical components operations to Corning, for 5 billion euro. It invested, through Olimpia, part of the resulting liquidity to become a majority shareholder in Telecom Italia in 2001, maintaining this position until 2007. In 2002 the company started a range of Pirelli-branded clothing, watches and eyewear. In 2005, Pirelli sold its Cables, Energy Systems and Telecommunications assets to Goldman Sachs and the newly formed company was named Prysmian. In the same year, 2005, Pirelli opened its first tyre production plant in Shandong province, China. This was the beginning of the group's production complex in the country. In 2006, Pirelli chose Slatina for its first tyre production plant in Romania, expanding the facility in 2011.
In 2010, Pirelli completed its conversion to a pure tyre company by selling Pirelli Broadband Solutions and spinning off the real estate assets of Pirelli Re. Fondazione Pirelli was established in the same year to safeguard and celebrate the company's past and to promote business culture as an integral part of Italy's national cultural assets. In March 2015, it was announced that Pirelli shareholders had accepted a €7.1 billion bid from ChemChina, together with Camfin and LTI, for the company. The transaction was completed and the company was delisted in November 2015.
In May 2017, it was announced that Pirelli returns to the world of cycling with a new road cycling tyre range, P ZERO Velo. In September 2017, the company announced its intentions to sell up to 40 per cent of its equity capital in an initial public offering as it plans to return to the Milan stock exchange in October.
In March 2019 Pirelli announced a new range of mountain biking tyres, called Scorpion. In 2021, Pirelli introduced 18-inch tyres for the new aerodynamic and technical changes for 2022 in Formula One. As of May 2024, Pirelli has a market capitalisation of $6.69 billion. On May 29, 2024 Silk Road Fund began the total sale of its shareholding.
On May 30, 2024, the share price fell as a result of the sale of the entire stake of Silk Road Fund. While Tronchetti Provera's Camfin strengthened its shareholding together with other Italian investors.
In April 2025, the Board of Directors, in compliance with the Italian government Decreto del Presidente del Consiglio dei Ministri 4 agosto 2023 (DPCM) and the IFRS 10 international accounting principle, determined that Sinochem's control over Pirelli had ended.
From Wikipedia’s article on Pirelli, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5