With Vivendi subdued, TIM Chairman Conti calls it a day

Fulvio Conti, who was appointed as Chairman of Italian telecoms group TIM after Vivendi lost control of its board, thinks his work there is done.

“The Board received the resignation of Fulvio Conti who stepped down as Chairman of the board and Director of the company as of the end of the meeting,” said a TIM statement. “Mr Conti stated that he believes his mandate has been completed, in light of the Board achieved stability in its operations and the renewed focus on creation of sustainable value for all the company’s stakeholders.”

Conti got the gig back in May 2018 after activist investor Elliott succeed in wresting control of the TIM board from French conglomerate Vivendi. His appointment, along several other Elliott nominees, was resisted by Vivendi on the reasonable assumption they were inclined to accommodate Elliott’s wishes in board meetings. Even if that was the case, however, it was hard to see how it was any different to the situation when Vivendi nominees dominated the board.

There followed months of moaning from Vivendi as it attempted to persuade TIM shareholders to get rid of the of the offending board members, but to no avail. In April of this year Vivendi officially threw in the towel, and has maintained a sulky silence ever since. Conti seems to have interpreted this as Vivendi permanently getting back into its box and, as a result, likely to be a corporate good boy from now on.

Conti’s departure could be viewed as confirmation that his main function was the taming of Vivendi, and now that job has been done he’s free to spend more time with his yacht. The TIM board couldn’t resist one last dig, however, noting “the positive contribution, the complete correctness, the institutional sensible approach and respect for the rules during his mandate in the interest of the company, its shareholders and all stakeholders.”