Piero's Story: He Dies and Leaves Part of His Legacy to the Employees Who Made Him Great

Until recently, few people knew about Enoplastic and its founder Piero Macchi.

We are in Bodio Lomnago, a small town on the shore of Lake Varese where Enoplastic is based – a company that produces plastic corks and capsules used primarily for wine, born from Piero's passion for plastics.

Today, however, we don't want to talk directly about the company or the world of wine; today we want to talk about a gesture made by Piero, a great man.

We are used to receiving from our employers a year-end bonus and a Christmas gift that, amid real hardship and exaggerated hardship alike, grows smaller year after year. But Piero Macchi had a better idea.

Long ill, he knew he would not make it, and before leaving this world last June at the age of 87, he arranged a Christmas "gift" to be kept secret and delivered to his employees: an envelope containing money.

A gesture of gratitude revealed posthumously to those who made the company great and keep it running. Piero had put this wish for his employees in writing in his will.

"My father Piero Macchi," recounts his daughter Giovanna, "arranged a total testamentary bequest of one and a half million euros. He acted, as always, with full autonomy in his decisions, with the assistance of a trusted notary and a labor consultant. And in the way he deemed most appropriate. Everything was managed by his wife Carla, my mother, who accompanied each individual employee's envelope with a touching letter of thanks."

Piero personally assessed the needs of his employees: the younger ones were rewarded with 2,000 euros, the older ones with as much as 10,000, and those with particular needs received even higher amounts.

"My father, during his lifetime, was very charitable," Giovanna adds, "in a discreet way, donating sums to institutions, hospitals, and associations. I can share one episode. He had been ill for some time. On one of his last trips to Varese for treatment, he noticed that the ambulance was not in good condition. When we arrived at the hospital, he said to the volunteers: 'If I pull through this time, I'll buy you a new ambulance.' He did pull through, because he was a strong man, and the very first thing he did was buy a brand-new ambulance."

Today the company produces over 2.5 billion units per year, exports to 86 countries around the world, and has branches in Spain, New Zealand, Australia, and the United States.

A great man who said his farewells in grand style.

Goodbye, Piero.