Born in Milan in 1953, he graduated in Law and has been a professional journalist since 1975. He was editor-in-chief of Corriere della Sera twice, from 1997 to 2003 and from 2009 to 2015, and subsequently of Il Sole-24 Ore from 2005 to 2009. He was a columnist for La Stampa.
In 2003-2004, he served as CEO of Rcs Libri and president of Flammarion and Casterman. He was also president of the Longanesi publishing house from May 2015 to
March 2025.
He is currently president of Vidas and Fondazione Corriere della Sera. He writes for Corriere della Sera and Corriere del Ticino.