Paolo Vitelli, the founder of Azimut Benetti, died at the age of 77 from an accident while at his home in Ayas, Aosta. He reportedly slipped while operating a shutter, hitting his head on concrete.
Who was Paolo Vitelli
Born in Turin, Italy, on October 4, 1947, he began his business career by establishing a boat rental company in the late 1960s. Today, or rather for a quarter of a century, Azimut Benetti is the world’s largest manufacturer of yachts. After starting out designing boats with the AZ 43′ Bali, the big leap came in 1985 with the acquisition of Benetti, a shipyard founded in 1873. With an uncommon vision, Paolo Vitelli, had the intuition to bring Benetti back to the manufacturing excellence of the past. Crucial in this transition was also the use of composite for the Classic 115′ line in 1988 , which sold a hundred units in just 10 years, an absolute record in boating.
He was always a pioneer when he built the world’s first diesel electric yacht (Ambrosia 2006) and created an in-house R&D center focused on reducing fuel consumption and choosing increasingly sustainable construction materials.
Azimut Today
At the helm of Azimut Benetti today is Giovanna Vitelli, who is leading an international behemoth with six shipyards for boats ranging from 13 to 110 meters with a production value of 1.3 billion euros in the nautical year 2023-2024.