Italian luxury yacht-maker, listed in both Milan and Hong Kong. Weichai, a Chinese state-owned diesel-engine maker, bought out the sinking Ferretti in 2012; it now holds nearly 40% of the shares. KKCG, a Czech investment group founded by billionaire Karel Komarek, has built up the second-largest stake at around 23%. Ferretti wants to expand into the lucrative maritime-security sector, which raises concerns about Chinese state access to Western military technology. Italy's "golden power" law allows the state to intervene in deals involving strategic assets when a foreign firm's shareholding exceeds 40.4%, blocking Weichai from raising its stake. Ferretti's Weichai-appointed boss, Alberto Galassi, has surprisingly sided with KKCG.
Ferretti orders fell by a third in the first quarter of 2026 versus a year earlier, hit by the war in Iran and uncertain delivery to Middle Eastern clients. Italy dominates global superyacht-building (defined as private boats over 24 metres); over half of the 1,000+ big boats built in 2025 were Italian. The country's yacht industry employs 168,000 people and added €13bn ($15bn) to GDP in 2025, about 0.6% of GDP, with employment up 6% that year per Confindustria Nautica. Total superyachts on order rose from 821 in 2021 to 1,093 by 2026 before slowing.
October 12, the Discovery. It was wonderful to find America, but it would have been more wonderful to miss it.