Paolo PANERAI

Editor in Chief and CEO, Class Editori

Paolo Panerai is CEO and Editor in Chief of Class Editori Spa, which he established in April 1986 to create an independent source of financial information.

The Company, listed on the Italian Stock Exchange in 1998, reached a total turnover of around 84 million euros in 2013.

Class Editori operates in several activity areas, employing more than 320 people within the divisions of: newspapers, magazines, press agencies, electronic publishing, radio, television, and professional products and services. Besides being manager and main shareholder, Paolo Panerai is also Editor in Chief for all newspapers and magazines, including those for the radio and television.

After studying Law at the University of Genoa, Mr. Panerai, at age 16 started collaborating with the local Grosseto bureau of “La Nazione”.

He then joined “Il Secolo XIX” and in 1969 “ Panorama”.

In 1979 he was responsible for the transformation of “Il Mondo” from a weekly coverage of many topics to one focused on finance.

In March 1980 he started the magazine “Capital”, followed by “Auto Capital”, “LineaCapital” and “SportCapital”. In1986 he left his post at “Il Mondo” to establish Class Editori.

The Company today publishes the news dailies, “MF/Milano Finanza”, “MF Fashion” (of which an electronic version in Chinese, English and Russian is published) and ItaliaOggi, and magazines in Italian, “Case & Country”, “Capital”, “Class”, “Gentleman” “Ladies”; “Magazine for Fashion”, “Magazine for Living”, “Patrimoni”, finance magazines in English: “Global Finance” and “Lombard”.

With the multimedia revolution of the 90s, the publishing house developed its multimedia business by starting MFSat in 1997 – digital satellite service of financial information; then PMF news agency – now a joint venture with Dow Jones & Co. under the name of MF/Dow Jones News.

In 2000 Cfn/Cnbc (now Class CNBC) was born, a TV channel about international economy and finance in partnership with NbcUniversal and Mediaset, broadcast on Sky (No. 507) and the Internet (timvision.tv and www.milanofinanza.it), as was Mf Trading a platform for on-line trading information and services.

In 2001 Radio Classica, now called Radio Classica-Milano Finanza, become the first radio dedicated to updates on financial markets and classical music.

In December 2003 was launched the Digital terrestrial tv channel Class News, now ClassTV, on air on channel 27 of Dtt. Class Editori’s indoor television offer is completed by Class Life, the Italian channel dedicated to the pleasures of life, broadcast every weekend on Sky 507and on timvision.tv, and ClassTVModa (Sky No.180, tivùsat 55), dedicated entirely to the world of Italian fashion and its key figures, acquired in the same year.

Class Editori’s multimedia offering is completed by its technological platforms for interactive financial services on terrestrial digital TV, its Corporate TV services for banks and businesses, and its OutodoorTV network, Class Telesia, the leading one in Italy, with a broadcasting presence in main Italian airports, Rome and Milano subways, public transport system in, Rome, Milan and Siena and Italian motorways system.

With it’s Web portals (www.milanofinanza.it e www.italiaoggi.it) Class Editori provide business intelligence and business information to companies and professionals working in the economic sector.

Besides, Milano Finanza Intelligence Unit produces analysis and newsletters dedicated to traders and anlysts, whereas other publisher companies provide data and news via satellite and Internet trading platform.

At the end of 2011, has benne signed the agreement with Xinhua News Agency (New China), the news agency of the Chinese government, which provides for cooperation in a series of editorial projects.

The agreement is part of the expansion strategy in China, which saw the at first the birth of Excellence Italy (launched in October 2012 and then in the new version in February of this year), the first integrated multimedia system (magazine, website and app in Chinese language) designed to communicate with tourists and Chinese consumers who come to Italy and who choose the Made in Italy and to meet the needs of Italian companies that focus on Chinese customers who come to Italy and consume in China.

In 2014 an agreement was signed with Century Fortunet Limited for the development in Italy of the platform CCIGMall operating since October the 27th .

CCIGMall is a new platform for B2B e-commerce (that is destined to Chinese retailers ), built with the support of some of the major groups and foreign institutions including Bank of China, China UnionPay, China Telecom and China Council for the promotion of international trade; it will allow Italian SMEs to have the most extensive distribution network throughout China without having to make investments out of their reach.

Class Editori (with its subsidiary CCEC, Class China eCommerce) is leading supplier for the food and beverage industry, as well as the main agent for the fashion, luxury goods, accessories and design, and the exclusive agent for the production of content and the advertising revenues from Italy.

Since March 2015, Class Editori became partner with WeToBusiness, the operating vehicle of WeChat in Italy. The partnership between the publisher and the official reseller, besides the participation of Class to the capital involves the supply of services, based on the platform of WeChat, addressed to Italian companies that want to exploit the opportunities of the Chinese market.

By partnering with WeChat Italy, in fact, Class Editori and the operational vehicle can provide a presence on WeChat in China to Italian companies that do not have a legal entity locally. Presence so far impossible for Chinese law.

By opening an account on the official WeChat, small-medium-and large-sized companies can offer directly sales services, provide customer support and carry out marketing actions on clients and prospects in China, drawing from a pool of more than 1 billion users registered. Paolo Panerai has also received the title honoris causa from Providence University (USA) for his entrepreneurial involvement in the production of wine in Italy’s Tuscany region. An activity he began in 1980.

Nowadays Panerai operates through two companies, Castellare di Castellina in the region of Chianti and Rocca di Frassinello (in the Maremma), the first joint venture between an Italian and a France wine company (Domain Baron de Rothschild-Lafite).