It's fair to say Carlo Rivetti has cash burning a hole in his pocket after his Stone Island brand was acquired by Moncler for a fee of around $1.4 billion earlier in the year. Now he's having some fun spending it, after buying the Italian football club Modena outright.
Stone Island's close relationship with football needs no explaining, and Rivetti himself is a huge Inter Milan fan. He won't need to worry about clashing with the freshly crowned champions anytime soon, however. Modena plays in Serie C, the Italian pyramid's third tier far removed from the glitz and glamour of Serie A.
As soon as the deal was confirmed, fans began to speculate on whether the official club gear may be supplied by Stoney. Unfortunately, that was quickly ruled out in a press release from Rivetti's Rivetex holding company.
"The Rivetti family has long been linked to Modena and its territory, where the Sportswear Company also operates, which thanks to the extraordinary work of the people who are part of it has become an important international player in the field of high-end men's clothing," reads the statement. "The Rivetti family, with the purchase of the shares of Modena FC 2018, wants to reaffirm its esteem and commitment for the territory and above all the gratitude for the entrepreneurial successes that were born and developed in this land, underlining that it is a personal operation through the Rivetex holding, completely disconnected from other industrial activities in which they are involved."
Modena is home to factories for automotive legends like Bugatti, De Tomaso, Lamborghini and, mast famously, Ferrari. A popular destination with tourists, it's a club with plenty of potential, and Rivetti will be hoping he can guide it back to Serie A, where it last played in the 2003/04 season. At a rumored purchase price of just €1.8 million, it has also cost the billionaire the equivalent of loose change.
Rivetti isn't the first Italian fashion entrepreneur to make a bet on sport. There's Verona chairman Maurizio Setti, president of the clothing company Antress Industry known for the Manila Grace brand, and Only The Brave chief Renzo Rosso, who purchased Vicenza in 2018. Diego Della Valle, chairman of Tod's group, sold his Fiorentina stake in 2018.
