Baroncini
Bologna, via Cino da Pistoia, photographs not too faded from the years 1963-1965. Two children with light hair, bowl cuts, one wearing a corduroy jacket and the other an ‘aviator’ bomber jacket; among them a woman with a white choker, reminiscent of Jackie Kennedy. It is the Italy of the boom, but there is an American DNA. A power that smells of hope. Among those kids, who attend the Montessori school not far away and play on the Crescentone with the Nettuno pigeons, there is one who will change the history of technologies, the economy and now also a bit of Bologna: Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google from 2001 to 2011 and then executive president from 2011 to 2015. Today Schmidt donated one million euros together with his foundation to save the Garisenda, the wounded tower symbol of Bologna at risk of collapse for which the Municipality has activated a powerful crowdfunding . This is the largest intervention to date.
The former CEO of Google, one of the richest and most influential billionaire managers in the world, has no doubts: “I feel a deep connection with this city. It has influenced me profoundly, both on a personal and professional level. Bologna has played a fundamental role in allow me to achieve what I have – he explains – As a child I lived here and I fondly remember playing in Piazza Nettuno, a stone’s throw from the Two Towers. It is essential that this important symbol of Bologna is brought back to its former glory and can be enjoyed again in complete safety.”
Let’s go back to the photos. In this story in images there are two others worth mentioning: in one, Eric Schmidt finds himself in Piazza Maggiore, the same one where as a child he chased pigeons and the jets of Neptune, at the Bologna Business School graduation; in the other, he is with Alec Ross in the Aula Magna of Villa Guastavillani. And it is no coincidence: Alec Ross, American author, entrepreneur and technological policy expert, professor at the BBS and former senior advisor to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, is the real link between Emilia and Silicon Valley. And Schmidt’s return to Bologna occurred with Ross’ affiliation with Bbs: “When he gave his graduation speech in 2021 – says Ross – Schmidt remembered playing in the Neptune fountain and walking through the streets of Bologna with his mother, a Bologna where there were no foreigners. Now everything has changed for the better. This donation for the Garisenda follows that of three million euros by Schmidt’s foundation in favor of the Bologna Business School. The connection with Bologna became more intense and he developed an institutional affinity for Bologna Business School and friendships with other stakeholders in our community, including Dean Max Bergami. When he learned of the problems with the Garisenda tower, Eric contacted me and we organized the donation together with the mayor.”
And the mayor of Bologna himself, Matteo Lepore, says he is “grateful to Eric Schmidt and his Foundation for this generous demonstration of affection towards our city”. Lepore continues: “Our city is receiving international attention, we must be proud and aware of it. The two towers have left their mark in the hearts of many, in particular in the hearts of those who have lived in Bologna – explains the mayor -. Eric Schmidt is a leader of thought and innovation on a global level, which is why his gesture takes on even greater significance in the city of supercomputers and towers in the world.”
All of this is indicative of the level of growing interest in Bologna from the powers that be in Silicon Valley. “When Reid Hoffman (co-founder of LinkedIn, ed.) gave the Bologna Business School graduation speech, he was present with 45 business leaders. The affinity of American innovators with Bologna is growing, as they love its culture, but also its orientation towards the future with BBS at the centre, but also with Tecnopolo and Cineca – reasons Ross –. The second campus of Bologna Business School shows how the past and future of the territory can meet coherently and this pleases Americans like me, Hoffman and Schmidt”. As Ross summarizes, “there’s a lot of transatlantic energy” and Schmidt’s donation is an example of that. Not just Italy like pasta, pizza and mandolin, but a land in which to invest. And also invest in the history and culture of Bologna and Garisenda, its symbol.
