26/09/2026
In Memory of Pasquale Pistorio
At one year since the passing of our Founder and former President Pasquale Pistorio, we would like to remember his legacy.
As CEO of STMicroelectronics and before of SGS, for 25 years (1980-2025), he always strove to improve not just the business, but also society, the countries where ST operated, and the world at large for the good of humanity. He put his talent and skills to the service of others and mankind. Romani Prodi defined him a genius. He was a great communicator, visionary, and charismatic leader, looking always 30 years into the future.
Many people in ST described him as a "spiritual father." He knew how to make people feel valued and special. He believed that people are capable of doing more than what they think is possible and knew how to motivate others. His speeches electrified not only his employees but everyone who heard him speak in any setting—at universities, the UN, and international conferences around the world.
Throughout his career at ST, he and his team brought to life dreams that had seemed impossible, defined as “miracles” by the press at the time.
1. The turn around of SGS, the only semiconductor company in Italy, state owned, which had $100 million in revenue in 1980 but had been losing just as much annually for over a decade. Pasquale and his team made SGS profitable and turned the near dead company into a high tech jewel.
2. The saviour of the European semiconductor industry: SGS’ success was a wake up call for all the other chip manufacturers in Europe who started to believe that they could become profitable too, and that maybe Europe had not lost the chip war to Americans and Japanese like most assumed. He knew semiconductors were a strategic sector since the 80s, and that lacking access to a semiconductor industry would plunge a country let alone a macrosystem like Europe into economic and industrial dependence and weakness. Not only did SGS become a model to emulate, but it spearheaded throughout the 80s and 90s key non-competitive strategic alliances with other European semiconductor manufacturers, significantly contributing to the growth and development of the industry. In recognition of this, Pasquale received the IEEE award as the “rebuilder of the semiconductor industry in Europe”.
3. The successful merger of SGS and Thomson Semiconducteurs in 1987, initiated and led by Pasquale, which seemed an impossible feat to experts.
4. The explosive growth of STMicroelectronics in the 90s, consistently outperforming the market year after year, propelling STMicroelectronics into the ranks of the world’s top five chipmakers. When Pasquale retired the ST stock had increased by almost 600% since the merger, creating billions of dollars in shareholders’ wealth. In 2005, ST was generating nearly $9 billion in revenue, a factor of almost 100 since in 25 years at the helm.
While at ST, he also founded the STMicroelectronics Foundation, which to date has provided digital literacy training to a million people worldwide.
ST was also an undisputed pioneer in environmental sustainability. In 1995 the company had already published a company wide Environmental Decalogue. By the year 2004 it had proved that “green is black” by saving 600 Million dollars since the baseline of 1994, the start of its annual investment in environemntal programs spanning from reduction of raw materials, recycling, reusing, to energy conservation and efficiency.
After retiring, Pasquale was appointed Honorary Chairman of ST, but also served as Vice President of Confindustria, President of Telecom Italia in 2007, and board member of Fiat, Brembo, Atos Origin, Chartered Semiconductor, and STATS ChipPAC, among others, as well as an advisor to GlobalFoundries, and international advisor to the governments of Singapore and France, thereby continuing to make significant contributions to the industrial and microelectronics sectors for twenty years.
Upon retiring from ST, Pasquale created the Pistorio Foundation, fulfilling a longtime wish to personally contribute to improve the living conditions of children in the world, who are often the first victims of wars, injustices and inequalities, and yet who represent the future of the planet. He was aware that his contribution was “a drop in an ocean of needs”, but that even that drop could change lives and hence was valuable for those we could reach. He felt we should all do more to help curb world poverty. In twenty five years the Pistorio Foundation has transformed the lives of thousands of children, positively impacting tens of thousands in communities in six countries.
Pasquale has demonstrated what can be achieved in a lifetime through determination and goodwill in the service of others and contributing to our cause is perhaps one of the most genuine ways to honour and continue his legacy.
