is unanimously recognised as one of the pioneers of post-war European steelmaking and one of the most innovative and forward-thinking industrialists of the last fifty years. His entrepreneurial career began in the early 1950s when, together with his brother Adriano, he founded the company Riva e C., which traded in scrap metal. In just a few decades, thanks to a clear strategy, the ability to expand internationally and rigorous management, that company was transformed into a global steel group: the second largest in Europe and the fifth largest in the world, with over 20,000 employees and a turnover of €10 billion.

He was a figure who did not like the limelight but preferred to spend his time in the factory, driving the company forward through direct interaction with his employees. He was not interested in financial speculation and short-term thinking, preferring instead the family business model, supported by traditional bank credit. It was no coincidence that he liked to call himself an “industrial entrepreneur”, emphasising the difference between himself and “capitalists”, who were mainly interested in buying and selling and stock market prices, claiming a vision based on development, investment and long-term growth.

The pioneer of the postwar steel industry in Italy, and as one of the most innovative and far-sighted industrialists to have appeared on the European scene during the last half century.

With this philosophy, Riva played a leading role in the privatisation and restructuring of the steel industry in Italy, Germany, France and Belgium, helping to safeguard tens of thousands of jobs. For his commitment, he received prestigious international awards: the Grand Cross of Merit from the King of Belgium (2000), the title of Knight of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (2002) and the French Legion of Honour (2005). Étienne Davignon, promoter in the 1980s of the famous Davignon Plan for the renewal of the European steel industry, described him as “living proof of a dynamic and optimistic vision of private enterprise”.

In 2001, the Politecnico di Milano awarded him an honorary degree in Mechanical Engineering, recognising his merit in being the first to introduce three-line continuous casting in Italy and numerous other innovations that have left a deep mark on the history of steel.