VENICE - The entrepreneur, Pietro Marzotto, has died at the age of 80 after being hospitalised for heart and pulmonary complications in the town of Portogruaro, where he had been living for several years.

 He was the son of Count Gaetano Marzotto and the youngest of seven brothers.

 With his help and leadership the family-run business, Marzotto Group, become a multinational success. He led the textiles group for 16 years; in 1971 he entered the company as director of its textile activity, the following year he became CEO and in 1980 he was appointed executive vice president.

 He was also vice-president of the industrial group Confindustria and president of the Marzotto Foundation from 2000-2012.

 His success came down to the fact that he greatly diversified the family business’ activities, from textiles to packaging. He also modernised the company by enlarging its shareholder base, converting it into a “public family group”, while also entrusting managers with the running of the company as opposed to family members.

 In 2004, the family group broke up and Pietro sold his shares, despite owning the vast majority. He also resigned as executive president.

 In Nov 2011, with a figure totalling 26 million euros, he took over two-thirds of Peck’s shares, the historic Milanese gastronomic brand. He was vice-president of the company until Sept 2016, when he finally sold his shares.

 Pietro was born on 11 Dec 1937 into a noble family. He graduated with a law degree in Milan, while simultaneously doing an apprenticeship at the Mortara and Valdagno plants of the family business.

 The entrepreneur leaves four children behind: Marina, Umberto and Italia from his first marriage, and Pier Leone.

 He was married three times. His first wife was English-born Stefania Searle, whom he married in 1962 at the age of 25. After he divorced Searle, he started having a relationship with Titti Ogniben, with whom he has his fourth child Pier Leone. In the mid 80s he married Mariolina Doria de Zuliani, who came from a Venetian noble family. In 2003, he divorced her and married Anna Maria Agosto at the age of 71. 

 Pietro Mazotto, entrepreneur, born 11 December 1937, died 26 April 2018.