Arnoldo Mondadori Editore

History

The company was founded in 1907 in Ostiglia by 18-year-old Arnoldo Mondadori who began his publishing career with the publication of the magazine Luce!. In 1912 he founded “La Sociale” and published the first book AiaMadama together with his close friend Tommaso Monicelli and the following year, La Lampada, a series of children's books.

The publishing house kept working intensely even during the First World War, mainly on the publication of magazines for the troops on the front such as La Tradotta, which included contributions from famous illustrators and writers such as Soffici, De Chirico and Carrà.

In 1919 the publishing house headquarters were transferred to Milan. After the First World War, Mondadori launched several successful book series including Gialli Mondadori in 1929, the first example of an Italian book series dedicated to detective and crime novels.

Despite a period of cultural autarky, in 1933 Mondadori started publishing works of international writers with the Medusa book series. In 1935, through an agreement with Walt Disney, the publishing house began the publication of a children's series based on Disney cartoon characters, which ran until 1988, when the agreement between Mondadori and the Walt Disney Company ended.

In 1952 Mondadori launched I romanzi di Urania (Urania’s novels), a twice monthly Italian science fiction magazine that contributed to the wider diffusion of this genre in Italy.

In 1960 Mondadori launched Il Club degli Editori, the first Italian mail-order book club and in 1965 became the first Italian publishing house to launch low-cost paperbacks for sale through newsstands (Oscar Mondadori).

Through a joint venture with Gruppo Editoriale L’Espresso in 1976, Mondadori published La Repubblica, its first daily newspaper; Gruppo Editoriale L’Espresso was finally separated from Mondadori in 1991.

In 1981 Mondadori entered the television business with the launch of the Rete Quattro TV station, which was sold to Fininvest a few years later. In the same year, through a joint venture with Canada’s Harlequin Enterprises, the romantic fiction book series Harmony began to be published in Italy.

The company has been controlled by Fininvest, Silvio Berlusconi's family holding company since 1991. Marina Berlusconi is the chairman.

Mondadori war

Between 1989 and 1991, there has been a financial conflict between Silvio Berlusconi and Carlo De Benedetti, two of the largest employers of those years.

In 1988 Berlusconi bought Leonardo Mondadori's (nephew of Arnoldo Mondadori) shares. Mondadori was then owned by three: Berlusconi's Fininvest, Carlo De Benedetti's CIR and the Formenton family (Arnoldo Mondadori's heir). Carlo De Benedetti convinced the Formentons to conclude an agreement that would bring him to obtain the Formenton's shares by 30 January 1991, but in November 1989 the Formenton family sided on Berlusconi's side, allowing him to become the new Mondadori president on 25 January 1990; De Benedetti then protested, claiming its agreement. The three sides took the unanimous decision of an arbitrary award to solve the conflict.

On 20 June 1990 was the first verdict: the agreement between De Benedetti and Formenton was considered still valid; as a consequence, the Mondadori shares became owned by the CIR (De Benedetti) and Berlusconi left the presidency of the company. Berlusconi and the Formentons then appealed at the Appeal Court of Rome, which assigned the case to Civil Section I. This section was chaired by Arnaldo Valente and the Judge-Rapporteur was Vittorio Metta. The ruling was made public on 24 January 1991 and nullified the arbitrary award verdict and gave the Mondadori shares back to Berlusconi's Fininvest.

In 1995, after receiving some proclamations, the judiciary started investigating the authenticity of the ruling. It turned out that Berlusconi won thanks to the corruption of Judge Vittorio Metta. Metta was sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2003, but won an appeal in 2005. The Court of Cassation nullified that appeal in 2006, and Vittorio Metta was sentenced to 1 year and 9 months in 2007. Berlusconi has not been sentenced. The trial expired for time limit.

Business areas

Books

Magazines (Italy, France and worldwide licensing)

Advertising

Direct : the company owns a chain of bookshops (Mondadori Multicenter, Librerie Mondadori, Librerie Gulliver, Edicolè) and controls in joint venture with Bertelsmann the company Mondolibri, owner of the four Italian book clubs (Euroclub, Club degli Editori, Il Circolo, Club per Voi) and of the internet-based bookshop Bol.it.

Radio : R101 and the defunct local radio station Rock FM.

Other activities (Newspapers, Mondadori International Business)

Imprints

The group today includes nine distinct publishing houses, a number of which have more than one imprint:

Edizioni Mondadori

Founded in 1907 by Arnoldo Mondadori in Ostiglia, but based in Milan since 1919, Edizioni Mondadori became one of the best-known Italian book publishers, with early collaborations with Disney and the Il Giallo Mondadori series of mystery/crime novels.

Giulio Einaudi editore

Founded in 1933 by Giulio Einaudi in Turin, this also became one of the most significant Italian publishing houses of the twentieth century. Its authors included Cesare Pavese, Elio Vittorini, Italo Calvino, Leone Ginzburg and Bruno Zevi, and it was the publisher of Antonio Gramsci’s Prison Notebooks. It was acquired by Mondadori in 1994.

Edizioni EL

Based in Trieste and publishing children’s books under the imprints EL, Einaudi Ragazzi and Emme Edizione. Giulio Einaudi editore has a 50% stake in the company

Sperling & Kupfer

Acquired by Mondadori in the 1980s, this publishing house founded in 1899 is one of the oldest publishing houses in Milan. Its traditional international focus, and concentration on current affairs, has been supplemented in recent years by publications in fiction, non-fiction, economics, manuals and popular science. Its imprints include Frassinelli, and Mondadori Informatica.

Edizioni Piemme

Particularly active in the area of books for children, and based in Casale Monferrato.

Mondadori Electa

A group based in Milan with three imprints: Electa, active in the art and history of art sector since 1945; Mondadori, which publishes illustrated books in areas such as nature, hobbies and history as well as tourist guides; and Mondadori Arte, intended to present art, architecture, design and archeology to non-specialist audiences.

Mondadori Education

formerly Edumond Le Monnier, acquired in 2008 and based in Milan, Bologna and Florence.

Harlequin Mondadori, Milan

A joint venture with Harlequin Enterprises specializing in fiction for women and based in Milan.

France

Auto Plus (50%)

Closer

FHM

Grazia

Modes & Travaux

Pleine Vie

Science & Vie

Télé Poche

Greece

Mondadori owns 41.66% of Greece's Attica Publications S.A.. Athens DeeJay (Greece), Rock FM (Greece)

Radio

R101 (radio station)

Financial performance

Table with a comparison of Mondadori financial performance over the last 5 years

The approach to corporate social responsibility

In 2010 the company created a Sustainability Committee with the aim of identifying guidelines for the development of a CSR strategy and put together an experimental version for internal use of a Sustainability Report. The first report available also to the public was published 2012 (2011 Sustainability Report), and has been followed by annual updates. 2012 also saw the creation of a Sustainability section on the company’s web site, which was classified 17th in the CSR Online Award 2012 ranking and 15th the following year, and first among Italian listed media companies. Since 2012 Mondadori has participated in the Investor CDP Italy questionnaire on energy consumption.