Born in Milan in 1928, he graduated in Economy and Commerce at the Bocconi University and he studied at the Cornell University (USA) as holder of the Fulbright grant. As “Stringher” he specialized in Economic sciences at the London School of Economics.
Town councilor for the Municipality of Milan from 1956 to 1970. First Chairman of the Region Lombardia from 1970 to 1974; deputy in the Italian Parliament from 1976 to 1982; from 1982 to 1997 he was the Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce of Milan and Chairman of Unioncamere from 1983 to 1992. From 1992 to 1999 he was chairman of the Association of the Italian Chamber of Commerce Abroad (Cciee).
Currently, he is the Chairman of Globus et Locus, an association of institutions which aims at analyzing the relationships between the global and the local.
He is the Chairman of the Giannino Bassetti Foundation whose aim is to analyze the responsibility of the innovation.
He wrote many essays and researches on politics and economy.