30 Ottobre 2025
Autori: Federico Minoli, Enrico D’Onofrio
Abstract:
In March 2020 Deus ex Machina’s (Deus) President and CEO Federico Minoli, a veteran of the sport and luxury industries with top roles at Benetton, Ducati, Dainese, Bally and POC Sports was confined by the Covid pandemic to his house in Boston. His bichon frisé Pepsi was looking at him anxiously, sensing that something was troubling the mind of her loving owner. Minoli was indeed struggling to imagine how to face the insidious threat that Covid-19 posed to Deus, a brand that he, together with a group of friends, had acquired only three years earlier. Minoli and friends had been attracted to Deus by the transformative potential of the brand and had imagined a worldwide expansion of a business still in its infancy. What is Deus Ex Machina? Is it a motorcycle and surfboard company? An apparel Company? A new concept of restaurant? An art gallery? A content producer? Deus is none of these things and at the same time it is all of them. Deus is a philosophy of life, an incubator of creativity, a generator of culture. It is anchored by Deus Temples, large venues that bring people together to enjoy music, food, shopping, and events – to watch a custom motorcycle take shape, or simply to feel relaxed and happy. It is the magic of a Temple that sets Deus apart and allows significant sales of Deus’ products also indirectly through a worldwide multi-channel distribution. The strategic issues around the post-Covid future of Deus were complex and controversial, and Minoli struggled to find the right answers.
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