“I have not come to change Ferretti Group. I have come to help Ferretti Group become even more Ferretti Group.” This sentence encapsulates the message Stassi Anastassov wanted to convey to the Group’s approximately 2,000 employees in an open letter released today, two months after taking office as Chief Executive Officer. The communication comes at a particularly delicate time for the company’s governance. On 23 July, the Court of Bologna is due to rule on the petition filed by KKCG Maritime, a company belonging to the industrial group controlled by Czech entrepreneur Karel Komárek, seeking the suspension and annulment of the resolutions approved at the shareholders’ meeting held on 14 May, including the appointment of the current Board of Directors, which subsequently appointed Anastassov as Chief Executive Officer. The action is directed against the Group’s majority shareholder, Ferretti International Holding, controlled by China’s Weichai Group. The 23 July hearing represents one of the most closely watched stages in the corporate dispute that has involved the Group in recent months and continues to attract close attention from industry observers.

Against this backdrop, the letter makes no reference to the ongoing corporate dispute and contains no indication of organisational changes. Anastassov explains from the outset that its sole purpose is to share the convictions he has developed during his first two months in office, spent visiting the Group’s shipyards and meeting owners, captains, dealers, suppliers, designers, engineers, craftsmen and employees. From these meetings emerged one question that, according to the new CEO, he asked everyone: “What must never change?” The answer was always the same: the Group’s brands, the craftsmanship behind every yacht and the Italian spirit that defines Ferretti’s identity. According to Anastassov, these are the elements that constitute the company’s true competitive advantage and must continue to guide its future development.

More than an internal communication, the letter therefore reads as a strategic manifesto. Anastassov states that his role is not to leave his own mark on the Group, but to preserve and enhance the legacy built over time by the founders of its seven brands, their designers and craftsmen. From this stems a clear industrial philosophy: the answer to market challenges is not to change Ferretti Group’s identity, but to make it even more distinctive. Consistent with the message already delivered to investors in recent weeks, the CEO also reiterates that the Group has no intention of pursuing volumes through discounting policies, but will continue to “earn the premium” through the quality of its yachts, because that premium protects jobs, craftsmanship and the pride of the people working in its shipyards.

A central section of the letter is devoted to the Group’s seven brands — Riva, Pershing, Itama, Wally, Ferretti Yachts, Custom Line and CRN — described not simply as a portfolio of brands but as a heritage built over more than 180 years. “Made in Italy is not our marketing. It is our identity,” Anastassov writes, stressing that this heritage represents a competitive advantage that no competitor can replicate. He then turns his attention to the upcoming international boating season — Cannes, Monaco, Genoa and Fort Lauderdale, together with the Global Dealer Meetings and the Private Preview in Monte Carlo — describing them as the first real test of the vision set out in the letter. According to the CEO, it will be the new yachts, product quality and the experience delivered to owners that will demonstrate in concrete terms the direction the Group is taking.

Although formally addressed to employees, the letter also appears to speak to audiences beyond the company. Its repeated references to the seven brands, Made in Italy, the central role of craftsmanship, quality as a key differentiator and the determination not to sacrifice product value in pursuit of volume clearly send a message to owners, dealers, brokers, investors and the wider yachting industry. It is a message delivered just weeks before the opening of the major international boat shows and one that helps define the identity with which the new management intends to lead Ferretti Group in the years ahead.

The Full Letter

PressMare is making available to its readers the full text of the letter sent by Stassi Anastassov to Ferretti Group employees on 15 July 2026, attached to this article as a downloadable PDF.