Roberto Rocca
Encyclopedia
Roberto Rocca was a prominent Italian Argentine
businessman.
, in 1922, as the eldest son of Maria Queirazza and Agostino Rocca
. The elder Rocca was an engineering
apprentice who would later become a member of the board of directors
of the Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale
(IRI), the centerpiece of the corporate state advanced by Fascist
dictator Benito Mussolini
.
During World War II
, Roberto Rocca enlisted in the Italian Navy
, serving from June 1942 until September 8, 1943, as a Second Lieutenant
in Naval Engineering on board a submarine
. He graduated as Mechanical Engineer at the Politecnico di Milano in July 1945, though seven months later, the family left Italy for Buenos Aires
, Argentina
.
His father's new establishment, Techint
, prospered during the administration of populist President Juan Perón
, and Rocca enrolled at MIT
, earning a degree in science at the end of 1949.
Involved in Techint since its initial, 1945 establishment, Rocca served an engineer and in the company's tchnical department. He was named head of the technical department in 1959, and oversaw the company's expansion into the steel industry. He became General Manager of Techint at the end of 1969, and CEO upon his father's retirement in 1975.
Agostino Rocca died in 1978, leaving his elder son as Chairman and CEO. Techint was, by then, a conglomerate with 15,000 employees, two steel manufacturing facilities in Argentina and with international engineering and construction interests. Buffeted by problems in the Argentine economy during the 1980s, Techint expanded its Latin America
n activities.
Techint participated in the privatization
drive adopted by President Carlos Menem
in the early 1990s, purchasing a majority stake in Argentina's then-leading steel manufacturer, the state-owned Somisa, in 1992. Techint bids for two electric utilities serving the Buenos Aires area came in second, however.
Rocca converted Somisa into Siderar, and integrated Techint's cold rolled steel operations (for which Somisa had long been a leading supplier, reportedly at a loss to the state concern) into Siderca. Between 1992 and 1996 Siderar raised its share of domestic consumption of flat steel (used in major aplliances and the auto industry, among others) from about 56 percent to about 79 percent.
Relinquishing the presidency of Techint to his elder son, Agostino, in 1993, he became president of Siderca in 1996, as well as of Dalmine
, a steelmaker based in Bergamo
, Italy, and a subsidiary of techint since 1954. Rocca embarked on a five-year investment program for Siderar, modernizing operations and shedding unprofitable units. Productivity almost tripled during this period, and costs per ton fell by 28 percent.
Siderar was listed on the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange
in 1996. A further joint venture was entered into with Tamsa
, in Mexico
, and a controlling stake was purchased in Sidor
(the leading steelmaker in Venezuela
) in 1998, Confab (Brazil
), in 1999, and in NKK
(Japan
), in 2000, making it the first Japanese steel company in foreign majority ownership.
The family was shaken by the April 28, 2001, aviation death of Agostino Rocca, president of Techint and Roberto Rocca's successor. Agostino's younger brother, Paolo Rocca
, was appointed to the post. Subsequently, Siderca was listed on the NYSE, and Techint's steel operations, the group's centerpiece, were reorganized as Tenaris
in October 2002, basing the subsidiary in Luxembourg
and converting Techint into a holding
company.
A patron of the arts and philathropist, Rocca served as Vice President of the Mozarteum Argentino
, Honorary President of the Círculo Italiano and Honorary Member of the Institute for Industrial Development (IDI), all prominent non-profit organizations in Argentina. He was elected the first chairman of Tenaris, but died in his native Milan, on June 10, 2003, at the age of 81.
Growing alongside the Argentine economic recovery that followed, Siderca's steel tube shipments grew from 2.5 million tons in 2003 to 4.5 million in 2008.
Italian Argentine
An Italian Argentine is a person born in Argentina of Italian ancestry. It is estimated up to 25 million Argentines have some degree of Italian descent...
businessman.
Overview
Roberto Rocca was born in MilanMilan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, in 1922, as the eldest son of Maria Queirazza and Agostino Rocca
Agostino Rocca
Agostino Rocca was an Italian Argentine businessman.-Life and times:Agostino Rocca was born in 1895 in Milan. His family relocated to Rome early in his childhood, and he completed secondary school studies at the Collegio Militare di Roma...
. The elder Rocca was an engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
apprentice who would later become a member of the board of directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
of the Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale
Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale
The Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale was an Italian public company set up by the fascist government in 1933 to combat the effects of the global depression on the Italian economy...
(IRI), the centerpiece of the corporate state advanced by Fascist
Italian Fascism
Italian Fascism also known as Fascism with a capital "F" refers to the original fascist ideology in Italy. This ideology is associated with the National Fascist Party which under Benito Mussolini ruled the Kingdom of Italy from 1922 until 1943, the Republican Fascist Party which ruled the Italian...
dictator Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Roberto Rocca enlisted in the Italian Navy
Italian Navy
Italian Navy may refer to:* Pre-unitarian navies of the Italian states* Regia Marina, the Royal Navy of the Kingdom of Italy * Italian Navy , the navy of the Italian Republic...
, serving from June 1942 until September 8, 1943, as a Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
in Naval Engineering on board a submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
. He graduated as Mechanical Engineer at the Politecnico di Milano in July 1945, though seven months later, the family left Italy for Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
.
His father's new establishment, Techint
Techint
Techint is a conglomerate multinational company founded in Milan in September 1945 by Italian industrialist Agostino Rocca and headquartered in Milan and Buenos Aires . Techint comprises more than 100 companies operating worldwide in the following areas of business: Engineering & Construction,...
, prospered during the administration of populist President Juan Perón
Juan Perón
Juan Domingo Perón was an Argentine military officer, and politician. Perón was three times elected as President of Argentina though he only managed to serve one full term, after serving in several government positions, including the Secretary of Labor and the Vice Presidency...
, and Rocca enrolled at MIT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
, earning a degree in science at the end of 1949.
Involved in Techint since its initial, 1945 establishment, Rocca served an engineer and in the company's tchnical department. He was named head of the technical department in 1959, and oversaw the company's expansion into the steel industry. He became General Manager of Techint at the end of 1969, and CEO upon his father's retirement in 1975.
Agostino Rocca died in 1978, leaving his elder son as Chairman and CEO. Techint was, by then, a conglomerate with 15,000 employees, two steel manufacturing facilities in Argentina and with international engineering and construction interests. Buffeted by problems in the Argentine economy during the 1980s, Techint expanded its Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
n activities.
Techint participated in the privatization
Privatization
Privatization is the incidence or process of transferring ownership of a business, enterprise, agency or public service from the public sector to the private sector or to private non-profit organizations...
drive adopted by President Carlos Menem
Carlos Menem
Carlos Saúl Menem is an Argentine politician who was President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. He is currently an Argentine National Senator for La Rioja Province.-Early life:...
in the early 1990s, purchasing a majority stake in Argentina's then-leading steel manufacturer, the state-owned Somisa, in 1992. Techint bids for two electric utilities serving the Buenos Aires area came in second, however.
Rocca converted Somisa into Siderar, and integrated Techint's cold rolled steel operations (for which Somisa had long been a leading supplier, reportedly at a loss to the state concern) into Siderca. Between 1992 and 1996 Siderar raised its share of domestic consumption of flat steel (used in major aplliances and the auto industry, among others) from about 56 percent to about 79 percent.
Relinquishing the presidency of Techint to his elder son, Agostino, in 1993, he became president of Siderca in 1996, as well as of Dalmine
Dalmine
Dalmine is a comune in the Province of Bergamo in the Italian region of Lombardy, located about 40 km northeast of Milan and about 8 km southwest of Bergamo. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 22,326 and an area of 11.6 km².The municipality of Dalmine contains the...
, a steelmaker based in Bergamo
Bergamo
Bergamo is a town and comune in Lombardy, Italy, about 40 km northeast of Milan. The comune is home to over 120,000 inhabitants. It is served by the Orio al Serio Airport, which also serves the Province of Bergamo, and to a lesser extent the metropolitan area of Milan...
, Italy, and a subsidiary of techint since 1954. Rocca embarked on a five-year investment program for Siderar, modernizing operations and shedding unprofitable units. Productivity almost tripled during this period, and costs per ton fell by 28 percent.
Siderar was listed on the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange
Buenos Aires Stock Exchange
The Buenos Aires Stock Exchange is the organization responsible for the operation of Argentina's primary stock exchange located at Buenos Aires CBD. Founded in 1854, is the successor of the Banco Mercantil, created in 1822 by Bernardino Rivadavia.Citing BCBA's self definition: "It is a...
in 1996. A further joint venture was entered into with Tamsa
Tamsa
Tamsa is a town and commune in M'Sila Province, Algeria. According to the 1998 census it has a population of 6284....
, in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, and a controlling stake was purchased in Sidor
Sidor
Siderúrgica de Orinoco C.A. "Alfredo Maneiro" is the biggest Venezuelan steel corporation. The company is situated in an industrial zone in Ciudad Guayana, Bolívar State, near the Orinoco River. Major iron deposits were found in the area in 1926 and 1947...
(the leading steelmaker in Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
) in 1998, Confab (Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
), in 1999, and in NKK
JFE Group
is a corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It was formed in 2002 by the merger of and . Both companies were major military vessel manufacturers during World War II....
(Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
), in 2000, making it the first Japanese steel company in foreign majority ownership.
The family was shaken by the April 28, 2001, aviation death of Agostino Rocca, president of Techint and Roberto Rocca's successor. Agostino's younger brother, Paolo Rocca
Paolo Rocca
Paolo Rocca is a prominent Italian Argentine businessman.-Life and times:Paolo Rocca was born in Milan. His father, Roberto Rocca, was a mechanical engineer and the son of Agostino Rocca, a prominent member of the Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale from 1933 to 1941, and the founder of...
, was appointed to the post. Subsequently, Siderca was listed on the NYSE, and Techint's steel operations, the group's centerpiece, were reorganized as Tenaris
Tenaris
Tenaris is a global manufacturer and supplier of seamless and welded steel pipe products and provider of pipe handling, stocking and distribution services to the oil and gas, energy and mechanical industries...
in October 2002, basing the subsidiary in Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
and converting Techint into a holding
Holding company
A holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...
company.
A patron of the arts and philathropist, Rocca served as Vice President of the Mozarteum Argentino
Mozarteum Argentino
The Mozarteum Argentino is a private, non-profit musical institution in Argentina. It is one of the most important musical institutions in the country and provides scholarships to some of Argentina's most able musicians. The Mozarteum Argentino was established in 1952 and also organizes concerts,...
, Honorary President of the Círculo Italiano and Honorary Member of the Institute for Industrial Development (IDI), all prominent non-profit organizations in Argentina. He was elected the first chairman of Tenaris, but died in his native Milan, on June 10, 2003, at the age of 81.
Growing alongside the Argentine economic recovery that followed, Siderca's steel tube shipments grew from 2.5 million tons in 2003 to 4.5 million in 2008.