After Geox, Diadora is also cutting jobs, while Moretti Polegato stands firm. Both brands are dealing with staff reductions, and meanwhile family holding company Lir, remains solid thanks to real‑estate investments. This is why Mario Moretti Polegato is ready to invest up to 60 million euros to relaunch Geox by October 2026.
Diadora also cuts jobs
Diadora, owned by the Moretti Polegato family’s Lir, has announced 27 redundancies out of a total of 199 employees. Last year ended with a revenue decline of around 8%, from 158.3 million in 2024 to 146 million expected for 2025. But according to CEO Claudio Bora, this isn’t the reason behind the redundancies.
“Diadora intends to gradually abandon lower‑priced footwear and sports equipment, along with the distribution channels where these are typically sold, to focus on mid‑ to high‑end products”, explained Bora, reported Corriere della Sera. An agreement with the unions has already been reached: voluntary redundancy incentives will be used. It’s essentially a copy‑and‑paste (even in numbers) of what happened at Geox, the other company belonging to the Moretti Polegato family.
Investments are not lacking
Geox remains the chronically troubled company of the Venetian family empire. As Milano Finanza explains, Geox shares today are worth 30 cents compared to over 3 euros in 2017, the company’s last profitable year, after which it has produced only losses. It also weighs heavily that industrial plans haven’t been respected over the years, actual results have been disappointing, and investors have lost confidence in the stock, which is unlikely to return to its former glory. But the negative performance of the footwear brand does not seem to have affected Lir, the financial holding of the Moretti Polegato family, which controls both Geox and Diadora.
“While small shareholders suffer, the family still sits on a mountain of liquidity”, writes Milano Finanza. According to the newspaper, Lir accumulated nearly 300 million euros in liquidity in 2004 by selling Geox shares. This liquidity has been invested mainly in real estate, which today is worth more than the footwear business. Investments have been made in Jesolo as well as in Romania and Slovakia through Domicapital. The latter company is valued at 56 million euros, compared to Geox’s 30 million and Diadora’s 27 million.
Photos Geox and Diadora
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