Feltri leaves HuffPost Italia and joins Qn. Del Vecchio’s push into publishing following his departure from EssilorLuxottica

A couple of days after stepping down from EssilorLuxottica, Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio is stepping up his efforts on another project of interest to him: publishing. After years at the helm of HuffPost Italia, Mattia Feltri is set to join the team at Quotidiano Nazionale, where from October he will be writing his daily column, "Buongiorno". The newspaper, along with other publications, belongs to the Editoriale Nazionale (En) group, of which Del Vecchio became the majority shareholder in January. Furthermore, Feltri is not Del Vecchio’s only ‘acquisition’. According to reports, Guido Boffo, a Turin native and former editor-in-chief of Il Messaggero, is also set to join Qn.

Gedi, the group that owns HuffPost Italia and other publications, has announced that it has finalised a development plan for the publication that will strengthen its position in high-quality digital news. And, having accepted the resignation of Editor-in-Chief Feltri, it has begun the search for the editor-in-chief who will lead this initiative. Feltri, for his part, thanked the company “for the many rewarding years of service”, which he will never forget. The group is seeking “an experienced journalist, male or female, with an innovative approach and a forward-looking vision, capable of interpreting the evolution of news and consolidating HuffPost Italia’s identity as a point of reference for an audience that demands authoritative, accurate and in-depth content”.

On Tuesday, as previously reported, in a letter to the chairman and chief executive of EssilorLuxottica, Francesco Milleri, and to the board, Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio announced his intention to step down from all his roles within the group – chairman of Ray-Ban and chief strategy officer – in order to focus on new business ventures.