Spy Games and Superyachts: Inside the Italy-China Power Struggle Rocking Luxury Shipyards

By Daniele Lepido and Haze Fan (Bloomberg) The battle between Italian luxury yacht maker Ferretti SpA’s management and its top Chinese investor is once again in the spotlight just over a year after the company was roiled by a spying scandal.

Weichai Group, which owns 37.5% of Ferretti, says Chief Executive Officer Alberto Galassi is sidelining its directors to tighten his grip over the company, according to people familiar with the matter and an internal document seen by Bloomberg News that was sent last month by the Chinese industrial group to its parent entity.  

Directors connected to the Chinese investor have been excluded from Ferretti’s Forlì headquarters and “are effectively cut off from the company’s main operating environment and only carry out sporadic, superficial tasks in the Milan office,” according to the document. It describes a recent management reshuffle that it says concentrates the company’s decision-making power in Galassi’s hands, noting that he has “in effect achieved full control over Ferretti.”

“As investors, we shareholders are deeply concerned about asset security and operational quality,” Weichai said in the document.

A representative for Ferretti declined to comment while officials for Weichai didn’t respond to requests for comment. It’s not clear from the document what Weichai — Ferretti’s biggest shareholder — plans to do about the turn of events.

The allegations are the latest twist in a saga that last year put Ferretti at the center of an alleged spying incident in which its Chinese executives were targeted, prompting prosecutors in Milan to open an investigation. Bloomberg News reported in June that hidden bugs were found in the company’s Chinese executives’ Milan offices during a period of tensions between its management and its main shareholder over a share buyback plan. The investigation into the spying incident is still ongoing.

The turmoil at Ferretti comes as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government takes an increasingly cautious approach to Chinese investments in the country’s key companies amid growing geopolitical and global trade tensions.

Although Weichai hasn’t had to contend with any Italian government interference, its case has drawn parallels with tiremaker Pirelli SpA, where China’s state-owned Sinochem Group was required by a 2023 decree to curb its governance role under Italy’s “golden power” law. The rule, designed to safeguard assets considered strategic, has become a key test of how Rome manages economic ties with Beijing while trying to reassure domestic and European partners. 

Ferretti is among the world’s best-known luxury yachts manufacturers, with brands including Riva, Pershing and Wally. The company reported about €1.2 billion ($1.4 billion) in revenue last year and has sought to expand its global order book.

The Italian firm went public in Hong Kong in 2022 and then added a Milan listing the following year. The stock has since then declined about 4% in Milan.

© 2025 Bloomberg L.P.

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