Activist Wyser-Pratte Slams Italy Over Plan to Oust Leonardo CEO

Activist investor Guy Wyser-Pratte blasted the Italian government’s reported plan to replace Leonardo SpA Chief Executive Officer Roberto Cingolani, warning the move would amount to political interference that risks harming shareholders and undermining market confidence.

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” Wyser-Pratte said in an interview Tuesday, praising Cingolani for “doing a fantastic job” for positioning state-backed Leonardo as a consolidator in Europe’s fragmented defense sector.

Roberto Cingolani

Photographer: Jose Sarmento Matos/Bloomberg

Wyser-Pratte, a longtime shareholder activist, said the planned changeover appears politically driven. The 85-year-old investor linked the government’s move, reported by Bloomberg and others, to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s effort ...