Norberto Ferretti: "I gave my gold FF pin to Anastassov. Today he's Ferretti."

Venice – The arrival of Stassi Anastassov at the helm of Ferretti Group has rekindled a dialogue that seemed to have been interrupted for many years. Norberto Ferretti, the shipyard's founder and a key figure in the history of Italian yachting, recounted this, having reconnected with the group's management during a visit to the company museum and subsequent meetings. SUPER YACHT 24 met him at the Ferretti Group stand at the Venice Boat Show, where he was invited by the CEO. The first question concerns how this connection was born.

“It all happened very naturally,” Norberto Ferretti recounts, “I had read the first letter that Stassi had written to his employees, and I was pleased to see he mentioned me. That's why I was looking for his email address: I simply wanted to write to thank him. While I was trying to contact him, however, the HR manager called me and said that the new CEO wanted to meet me personally and that he would be happy to visit the museum. I immediately replied that it would be a pleasure. Besides, I had invited Alberto Galassi ten times to see the museum, and he had never come, so I was very pleased by his willingness to do so.” It's the same museum where Ferretti welcomed SUPER YACHT 24. in this interview.

The visit quickly turned into an opportunity to retrace the company's history directly with those who are currently guiding its future. "We visited the museum. I always call it a little museum, but inside there are numbers and testimonials that truly tell the story of Ferretti. At one point, we stopped in front of a Caterpillar plaque from 1989. I remember it perfectly because it was given to me to celebrate the 500th Caterpillar engine installed. If you do the math, it means that, by then, we had already built around 250 boats equipped with those engines. These details tell the story of the growth the company had achieved in those years better than any words."

During the visit, Ferretti says, Anastassov showed great interest in every detail.

“He asked me to take some photographs, and I told him there were no secrets there. We looked at everything. Then we went to lunch, and he literally poured out everything I could tell him. He asked me questions about the company's history, the product, my experiences, and the dynamics that shaped Ferretti's growth. He wanted to understand, learn, and delve deeper. At the end of lunch, he told me we'd see each other again, and later invited me to Venice. I came with a friend of mine just to say hello.”

On that occasion, Ferretti decided to give him a personal object with strong symbolic value. “I gave him my gold double F pin, my personal one, the one I wore. It's an object I'm very fond of because it represents an important part of my professional life. He was very kind and told me not to give it to him, because in his opinion it was a historic piece and should remain with me. I replied, 'You can send it back to me when you leave Ferretti, but in the meantime, you'll take it.' And I explained the reason: 'Because today you are Ferretti.' It was a way of acknowledging the role he holds and the responsibility he now has towards the company.”

According to the group's founder, the new CEO possesses a key characteristic: the ability to listen. "He's a very affable person. You can see it in the way he presents himself and the way he interacts with people. He's curious to understand and willing to listen. For someone who leads a company with such an important history, I believe this is a crucial trait."

Ferretti's presence at a group event, however, was far from a given. In fact, the founder had chosen to stay away from the company for years. "It's been a very long time since I've been to a Ferretti stand. The reason is simple: I was treated by Alberto Galassi and Piero Ferrari in a manner I consider unworthy. It's an event that has left me deeply disappointed and has led me to leave. That's why my presence today represents something that until recently would have been difficult to imagine."

Among the topics discussed in conversations with Anastassov, the legal dispute that has embroiled the founder and the company for years inevitably came up. "One of the professional questions he asked me, perhaps the only one truly related to that matter, was: 'Norberto, what do you want to do about that lawsuit you have with Ferretti?' I replied that I don't have a lawsuit against Ferretti. Ferretti has a lawsuit against me. They filed the lawsuit, claiming that my design incompetence and inability to follow through on the product were demonstrated by the alleged commercial failure of a 1992 model."

A complaint that Ferretti continues to find incomprehensible. "That 1992 model was based on a hull developed in 1988. Twenty-seven units were built in four years. I'd like to understand how a boat that sells twenty-seven units in four years can be considered a commercial disaster. It makes no sense to me. It's an argument I've never shared and continue to believe to be baseless."

The assessment of the trial process is even more harsh. "I limited myself to defending myself. The case dragged on for 12 years, all the way to the Supreme Court. During this entire period, I was never questioned. In the end, the judge essentially said, 'We haven't found a solution, you should find one.' After twelve years of proceedings, it's one of the most obvious examples of the critical issues facing Italian civil justice."

Despite everything, Ferretti maintains he has no intention of continuing a conflict with the group. "When Stassi told me about the matter, I told him not to worry. He saw that this lawsuit was pending and wanted to understand the situation. I explained to him that, as far as I'm concerned, it's all over. I don't want anything. I have no interest in pursuing this matter. I wasn't the one who sued Ferretti, and honestly, I never would have. It's not my way of being."

When asked by SUPER YACHT 24, the founder leaves the door open to a possible professional contribution, should the new management deem it useful. "If one day they asked me to join the team in some capacity, I could certainly help with the product. It's something I can do while still living my life. I'm not looking for assignments or operational roles. However, the experience I've gained over all these years is available. If I need to have a meeting with Mauro Micheli to develop a 25-meter boat, it won't take me long. These are topics I know intimately, because they've been part of my work for decades."

Meanwhile, Stassi Anastassov approaches us as we're chatting. She hugs Norberto Ferretti and, turning to the recorder, says repeatedly: "He's a legend! He's a legend!", as this photo shows. Norberto Ferretti now feels at home. "For me, the product is what matters most. That's where," he confides, "I think I can still be useful. Everything else is a thing of the past." 

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