Telecom Italia fired CEO Amos Genish while he was in Asia, deepening its shareholder war

Telecom Italia, Italy's former telecom monopoly, was caught in 2018 in a proxy war between its largest shareholder, French media group Vivendi, and US activist hedge fund Elliott Management. Elliott won control of the board in May 2018, but the board initially kept Amos Genish, a Vivendi appointee who had become CEO in 2017, in his job.

On 13 November 2018, the Elliott-backed board fired Genish while he was on a business trip in Asia and gave no public explanation for the move. Genish condemned the dismissal as a 'Soviet-style putsch' and told Reuters the board had become dysfunctional. Vivendi called it a cynical manoeuvre and reserved its rights. Five days later the board named Luigi Gubitosi, an Elliott-backed director and former Wind CEO, as the new CEO.

The abrupt change deepened governance paralysis. Vivendi demanded an extraordinary shareholders' meeting, TIM shares had already fallen around 30% that year, and the company cycled through CEOs and strategic pivots for years. The episode became a textbook case of how an activist-captured board can destabilise a company by removing a leader without a visible, shared strategy.

The Elliott-backed board fired CEO Amos Genish in a public putsch, deepening paralysis as shares fell 30% that year and Vivendi demanded a shareholder meeting.

Elliott won board control but did not have a unified strategy beyond replacing the Vivendi-aligned CEO

The board fired Genish while he was overseas and without a transparent reason, undermining governance credibility

Vivendi and Elliott treated Telecom Italia as a battleground for conflicting visions, leaving the company paralysed

The directors chose a public putsch over a managed transition, amplifying strategic uncertainty

A boardroom coup without a shared strategy replaces one problem with three: uncertainty, conflict, and the flight of talented leaders.

Luigi Gubitosi became CEO and pursued a fixed-line network spin-off, but TIM remained caught between Vivendi and Elliott. The company's shares underperformed, governance disputes continued for years, and the former monopoly eventually agreed to separate its network assets into a state-influenced entity.