Matteo Manfredi

Matteo Manfredi
Matteo Manfredi founder and managing director of Gestio Capital
Born1979 (age 46–47)
Province of Pavia, Lombardy, Italy
CitizenshipItalian
Alma mater
Occupations
Years active2000s–present
Organizations
Known forFounder of Gestio Capital; President of U.C. Sampdoria
Title
  • Founder & CEO of Gestio Capital (2008–present)
  • President of U.C. Sampdoria (2024–present)

Matteo Manfredi (born 1979) is an Italian financier and entrepreneur based in London. He is the founder and managing director of Gestio Capital, a London-based multi-family office serving a restricted number of ultra-high-net-worth families. [Source: Forbes Italia, October 2024; Gestio Capital[1][2][3][4] corporate filings;]

Since March 2024, Manfredi has served as president of U.C. Sampdoria, the Genoese football club he acquired out of administration in 2023. At the time of his appointment, he was the youngest club president in Italy's top two professional football divisions. [Source: RaiNews, March 2024; Borsa & Finanza, August 2025[5]]

Through Gestio Capital, Manfredi has become known as an early European investor in several of the world's most prominent artificial intelligence and technology companies, including OpenAI, SpaceX, Palantir, and Figure AI. In 2024, he was named among the Top 100 Managers in Italy by Forbes. [Source: Milano Finanza, August 2023; Citywire, April 2025[6]; Forbes Italia, October 2024]

Early life and education

Manfredi was born in 1979 in the Province of Pavia, Italy, to a family with a background in banking. He studied economics at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan before continuing his education at Columbia University in New York, where he specialised in business administration and management. [Source: Forbes Italia, October 2024]

After completing his studies, Manfredi served for three years as a lieutenant in the Italian Army before beginning his career in the financial sector. [Source: Forbes Italia, October 2024; City A.M., May 2024]

Career

Banking Career

Following his military service, Manfredi moved to London and began a career in corporate finance. He worked as a management consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), advising UK banks on multi-asset transactions. He subsequently joined Barclays Capital, during which time he obtained the qualification of Chartered Management Accountant (ACMA) from the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA). He then moved to Lloyds Banking Group, where he served as an adviser to the executive team on European transactions. [Source: Forbes Italia, October 2024; City A.M., May 2024; Gestio Capital website]

Gestio Capital

In 2012, after nearly a decade in institutional banking, Manfredi founded Gestio Capital, a London-based multi-family o`ice focused on capital preservation and long-term wealth stewardship for a select group of ultra-high-net-worth families and entrepreneurs. [Source: Forbes Italia, October 2024; Citywire, April 2025[6]; Gestio Capital corporate summary]

Gestio Capital functions as an external asset manager onboarded by multiple Tier-1 financial institutions, allowing client families to retain their existing banking relationships while receiving independent portfolio oversight. The firm employs what it describes as a "barbell strategy," maintaining approximately 70% of assets in liquid investments and 30% in illiquid alternative investments including private equity, venture capital and real assets. [Source: Citywire, April 2025[6]; Gestio Capital corporate summary]

The firm has stated that it co-invests its own capital alongside its client families, a structure intended to ensure alignment of interests. Manfredi has described Gestio Capital as "a small private investment club" serving a deliberately restricted number of clients. [Source: Borsa & Finanza, August 2025[5]; Forbes Italia, October 2024]

Despite operating one of the most active European platforms for pre-IPO technology allocations, Gestio Capital has maintained a deliberately conservative posture, with approximately 70% of client assets held in liquid, capital-preserving strategies. The firm applies a strict onboarding process and accepts only a limited number of new client families, a constraint Manfredi has described as essential to preserving the depth of engagement, alignment of interests, and privileged deal access that the platform provides."

Manfredi also sits on the boards of several Gestio Capital portfolio companies, including OTX Group, a European market platform for oil majors to trade compulsory stockholding obligations, and TLG Capital, a private equity firm focused on frontier markets. [Source: Gestio Capital website[3]; Companies House filings]

Football

Leeds United involvement

In 2023, Manfredi, through his association with Italian businessman and former Leeds United[7] owner Andrea Radrizzani, was involved in facilitating the sale of Leeds United to 49ers Enterprises, the investment vehicle of the San Francisco 49ers ownership group. [Source: City A.M., May 2024]

U.C. Sampdoria [8][9][10][11][12]

In May 2023, Manfredi led the acquisition of a majority stake in U.C. Sampdoria, the historic Genoese football club that had been relegated to Serie B and was facing severe financial difficulties following the departure of former owner Massimo Ferrero. The club was near the point of collapse and had struggled to complete its registration for the 2023–24 season. [Source: City A.M., May 2024[12]; Il Messaggero, May 2024; Borsa & Finanza, August 2025[5]]

Manfredi assumed the role of club president on 4 March 2024, becoming, at age 44, the youngest president across all Serie A and Serie B clubs. [Source: RaiNews, March 2024; Eurosport, March 2024; Borsa & Finanza, August 2025[5]]

In his first season, Manfredi and his group invested approximately €55 million into Blucerchiati S.p.A., the holding company controlling Sampdoria, funding a new training centre and infrastructure improvements. Under head coach Andrea Pirlo, the club qualified for the Serie B promotion playoffs in the 2023–24 season despite a two-point penalty. [Source: City A.M., May 2024; Borsa & Finanza, August 2025]

The 2024–25 season proved more difficult, with the club battling relegation to Serie C. In April 2025, Manfredi enlisted the support of former Italy national team head coach and Sampdoria legend Roberto Mancini in an informal advisory capacity, alongside the appointment of Mancini's former Italy coaching staff members Alberico Evani and Attilio Lombardo. Sampdoria ultimately secured their Serie B status through the play-outs. [Source: France 24, April 2025; Football Italia, April 2025; Borsa & Finanza, August 2025[5]]

In total, Manfredi has invested an estimated €150 in the club during his first two years as president. [Source: Borsa & Finanza, August 2025[5]]

Thechnology and AI Investments

Manfredi and Gestio Capital have built a portfolio of investments concentrated in artificial intelligence, deep technology, and frontier technology companies. Notable investments include:

In 2021, Manfredi made a personal investment in Insilico Medicine[13], a Hong Kong-based company that uses generative artificial intelligence for drug discovery. [Source: Milano Finanza, March 2023[14]]

In early 2023, Gestio Capital invested alongside Microsoft in a funding round in OpenAI, becoming one of the first European investors in the company. The investment, made through a venture capital fund, was reported to be in excess of $2 million. [Source: Milano Finanza, August 2023[14]; AIFI (Italian Private Equity Association); Borsa & Finanza, August 2025[5]]

Gestio Capital's broader technology portfolio has included investments in SpaceX, Palantir, Revolut[15], Neuralink, Perplexity AI[5], and Figure AI[6], a robotics company developing humanoid robots in which Gestio participated in a Series B round exceeding $675 million. [Source: ClubDoria46, August 2023[16]; Citywire, April 2025[6]; Borsa & Finanza, August 2025[5]]

Gestio Capital's portfolio includes early positions in OpenAI, SpaceX[17], Palantir, Revolut, Figure AI, Insilico Medicine, Neuralink, Perplexity AI[5], xAI[17], Anduril Industries, and Crusoe Energy Systems — spanning generative AI, autonomous robotics, defence technology, satellite infrastructure, and AI computing. The breadth and timing of these allocations has positioned Gestio Capital as one of the few European private investment offices with direct access to multiple pre-IPO rounds in the sector's most capital-restricted companies, at a time when the overwhelming majority of such allocations have remained concentrated among US-based institutional investors.

In April 2025, it was reported that Gestio Capital was structuring a Luxembourg-based investment vehicle in partnership with a European bank to provide broader access to its AI-focused portfolio for qualified investors. [Source: Citywire, April 2025[6]]

Recognition

In 2024, Manfredi was named among the Top 100 Managers in Italy by Forbes Italia[18][19][20]. [Source: Forbes Italia, October 2024; Infrastrutture.eu, October 2024]

References

  1. ^ Capponi, Marco (August 4, 2023). "Gestio Capital dopo la Samp investe anche in ChatGpt". Retrieved March 24, 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ^ Redazione (December 30, 2025). "Gestio Capital chiude il 2024 in crescita, asset in bilancio a £40,2 mln, liquidità a £6,4 mln e patrimonio netto a £421 mila". Retrieved March 24, 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ^ a b Company Gestio Capital: https://www.gestiocapital.com/about-us/team/
  4. ^ Boeris, Andrea (December 30, 2025). "Sampdoria, il contestato presidente Manfredi può sorridere: la sua Gestio Capital migliora i conti". Retrieved March 24, 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Zoppo, Alessandro (August 15, 2025). "Chi è e cosa fa Matteo Manfredi, il presidente della Sampdoria". Retrieved March 24, 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ^ a b c d e f Colamartino, Francesco (April 4, 2025). "Manfredi (Gestio Capital): al lavoro su un nuovo veicolo con una banca per aprire i nostri investimenti in AI". Retrieved March 24, 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ^ Redazione (November 22, 2023). "La nuova Samp prende forma: Manfredi alla guida del club". Retrieved March 24, 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. ^ Pastorino, Luca (September 21, 2024). "Sampdoria, Ferrero esce ufficialmente di scena: a Manfredi il 99,98% della società". Retrieved March 24, 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. ^ Eurosport (March 8, 2024). "Serie B - Sampdoria, Matteo Manfredi è il nuovo presidente". Retrieved March 24, 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ^ Eurosport (May 27, 2023). "Cessione Sampdoria, ufficiale l'accordo preliminare con Radrizzani e Manfredi". Retrieved March 24, 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  11. ^ Redazione (April 8, 2025). "Mancini to help former club Sampdoria avoid drop to Italy's third tier". Retrieved March 24, 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. ^ a b Dalleres, Frank (May 7, 2024). "Meet the London-based financier reviving Sampdoria, sleeping giant of Italian football". Retrieved March 24, 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  13. ^ Redazione (August 12, 2025). "OpenAI e ChatGPT fanno sorridere la Gestio Capital di Manfredi: l'investimento da 2 milioni ora ne vale 50". Retrieved March 24, 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. ^ a b Capponi, Marco (August 3, 2023). "Dopo la Sampdoria il fondo Gestio Capital investe anche in ChatGpt". Retrieved March 24, 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  15. ^ Private, Redazione (August 26, 2022). "Private capital, nasce Gestio Alternative di Vitullo e Manfredi". Retrieved March 24, 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  16. ^ Frassanito, Gabriele (August 4, 2023). "Gestio Capital, dalla Sampdoria a ChatGPT: l'ultimo colpo di Matteo Manfredi". Retrieved March 24, 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  17. ^ a b Chiari, Mario (February 3, 2026). "SpaceX, maxi fusione da 250 miliardi con xAI, entrambe aziende di Elon Musk. Anche Matteo Manfredi tra gli investitori". Retrieved March 24, 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  18. ^ Michieli, Maurizio (October 11, 2024). "Sampdoria, Manfredi nei top manager 2024 di Forbes: "Per noi questo è l'Anno..."". Retrieved March 24, 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  19. ^ Redazione (October 12, 2024). "Manfredi, presidente della Sampdoria, tra i top 100 manager italiani di Forbes". Retrieved March 24, 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  20. ^ Private (October 11, 2024). "Presidente della Samp Manfredi nei Top 100 manager Forbes 2024". Retrieved March 24, 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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