27-05-2025
Consortium Including Anne Hathaway, Gian Luca Passi de Preposulo Invests in Italy's SailGp Team
MILAN – Fashion is increasingly committed to sports competitions, with Louis Vuitton as one major example as the official partner of Formula 1 and titular sponsor of the America's Cup.
Today, the Italian SailGP team will reveal that it has secured new investors, and they span from Hollywood to Milan.
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The Muse Sport consortium, led by Assia Grazioli Venier, co-founder of Muse, Gian Luca Passi de Preposulo and chief executive officer Jimmy Spithill, has acquired the Red Bull Italy SailGP Team. The consortium includes Anne Hathaway and Italian actress Miriam Leone, who with Grazioli Venier, mark a first in the sector with a female-led ownership group eyeing the growing commercial viability of the mixed-gender championship.
'SailGP is far more than a sporting competition — it's a global platform for innovation, entertainment and hospitality,' said Passi de Preposulo, chairman of the board. 'We are building a team that reflects the future of sports business: technology-led, culturally impactful and environmentally responsible.'
Passi de Preposulo started his career at Giorgio Armani, where from 2004 to 2012 he worked with Roberta Armani in global PR and entertainment. In 2013, he joined Moncler as director of events and entertainment. He remains an advisor of Moncler, which is led by chairman and CEO Remo Ruffini.
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In 2011, he founded and launched Fiol, the multi-awarded prosecco wine label from the Veneto region. The husband of Jessica Chastain, he moved to New York in 2015 and in 2022 launched the fund Festina Lente Partners SCSp, managed by Gruppo Azimut, focused on financial technology, food tech, marketplace, digital transformation and smart environment. A former athlete playing in the Benetton Rugby Treviso team and in Italy's national youth team, he approached sailing in the steps of his father and former regatta sailor Alberto Passi de Preposulo.
'The new Red Bull Sail GP team embodies a powerful convergence of innovation, athletic excellence, and a deep commitment to inclusive leadership — particularly in advancing the role of women in high-performance sport,' Hathaway said in a joint statement with her husband Adam Shulman, who is also an investor in the venture. 'My deep and enduring love for Italy makes this opportunity especially meaningful, and I am so excited to have been invited to support a project that reflects both tradition and transformative vision.'
Hathaway is a brand ambassador for Bulgari and has fronted campaigns for Versace, for example.
The group of investors also includes Evan Yurman, son of David Yurman co-founders David and Sybil Yurman and now president of the New York-based jewelry company; Alexander Gilkes, co-founder of venture studio Squared Circles; Julie Eddleman, global chief commercial officer at DoubleVerify and a former Google and Procter & Gamble executive; Heather Karatz; Pete del Grosso, MFO Certuity, and Dr. Jennifer Ashton.
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SailGP was founded by Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle Corporation and twice winner of the America's Cup, and Russell Coutts, Olympic gold medalist who skippered three America's Cup victories.
Rolex is the titular sponsor of the SailGP Championship, which sees national teams racing in identical high-tech, high-speed 50-foot foiling catamarans around the world at speeds approaching 60 miles per hour in a quest for a total prize money of $12.8 million. The Italian team was formed in November last year.
The championship returns next month with the sixth stop of the 2025 season, the Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix on June 7-8, before the European summer leg kicks off in Portsmouth, U.K., July 19-20.
The Australian Spithill is a former skipper and helmsman for BMW Oracle Racing, winning the America's Cup in 2010, defending the cup twice, both times against Emirates Team New Zealand, first successfully in 2013, and unsuccessfully in 2017.
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In the 36th America's Cup, he was one of two helmsmen on the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli boat, which won the Prada Cup and lost in the finals.
'Italy has an extraordinary sailing legacy, and our mission is to be a catalyst for its next phase,' said Grazioli-Venier. 'Muse Sport is honored to lead this pivotal moment for our sport. SailGP has massive commercial potential for global growth and impact that this ownership group will realize, leaning on elite leadership with strategic entrepreneurial capital. As someone deeply connected to Italian and sailing culture, it's an honor and a responsibility to help guide a team that embodies excellence, innovation, and true inclusivity.'
Moving from fashion to sports, Francesco Francavilla was named head of marketing and communications of SailGP ITA.
He was previously global head of communications of the Alberta Ferretti and Pollini brands. Before that, he was global head of marketing and communications at Gruppo Antonioli's Dreamers Factory, where he managed all the communications activities for the Antonioli, Ann Demeulemeester and 44 Label Group brands, bringing his experiences at Renè Caovilla, Karla Otto and Dolce & Gabbana.
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