Andrea Doria's chosen heir was shot at a Genoa gate in the Fieschi coup, the coup's leader drowned in the harbour, and the admiral's fortune passed to an eight-year-old

Andrea Doria, admiral of the Genoese galleys and master of the republic, adopted his stepson Marc'Antonio del Carretto, who was named heir to the principality of Melfi in 1534. He then turned his favour to Giannettino Doria, son of his cousin Tomaso, and made him lieutenant of the galleys and his designated successor. Giannettino married Ginetta Centurione, a banker's daughter, in 1537, and their son Giovan Andrea was born two or three years later. Gian Luigi Fieschi planned a rising for 4 January 1547 and moved it to the night of 2 January. The rebels took the city gates and the galley harbour. Giannettino ran to the Porta San Tommaso, already in rebel hands, and a soldier, Agostino Bigellotti, shot him; some accounts say an axe. Gian Luigi Fieschi fell into the water while boarding a galley and drowned. Andrea Doria got out of the city unharmed. The pardon granted to the Fieschi brothers was revoked, their castle at Montoggio was besieged, and Gerolamo Fieschi was executed. Doria took Fieschi fiefs as compensation, including Santo Stefano, while the republic got lesser places. Andrea Doria died on 25 November 1560. Giovan Andrea, orphaned at eight, inherited "in tutte le sostanze e privilegi" and the Mediterranean command, which Philip II recognised. Doria's rule over Genoa itself was personal and did not pass. His Palazzo del Principe at Fassolo still stands.