Raul Gardini ran his in-laws' Ferruzzi group, was voted out in 1991 and shot himself in 1993 as it collapsed with 31,000 billion lire of debt

Serafino Ferruzzi founded a grain-trading firm in Ravenna in 1948. By 1976 he had put the shares in his four children's names: Arturo 31%, Idina, Franca and Alessandra 23% each. On 10 December 1979 his Learjet crashed onto a house while landing. Four other people died. The group was valued at about 800 billion lire. Idina's husband, Raul Gardini, took control. He bought Eridania, Béghin-Say and, from 1985 to 1987, the chemicals group Montedison. In October 1987 thieves took Serafino's body from the Ravenna cemetery and demanded a ransom. The family refused. The remains were never found. In 1988 Montedison and state-owned ENI formed Enimont. On 22 November 1990 Montedison sold its 40% to ENI for 2,805 billion lire, around an alleged bribe of 150 billion lire. On 11 June 1991 the family board withdrew its confidence in Gardini. In August he left with 505 billion lire, paid as his wife's share. In June 1993 the group, run by Alessandra's husband Carlo Sama, stopped paying suppliers. Debt was about 31,000 billion lire, owed to more than 300 banks. On 30 June the banks removed the family. On 23 July 1993 Gardini was found shot in the head at his Milan home, Palazzo Belgioioso, before magistrates could question him. Investigators ruled suicide. Sama's Enimont conviction became final in 1998 with a 3-year sentence^†. Montedison is now part of Edison, owned by EDF^†. Idina died in 2018 and Arturo in November 2024.