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Giancarlo Parretti

2025-07-07T21:12:14Z

2A00:23C8:21C2:A401:5818:A4E:F5B6:3AA: /* Pathé */

{{Short description|Italian financier (born 1941)}}
{{Infobox criminal
|name = Giancarlo Parretti
|image_name =
|image_size =
|image_caption =
|birth_date = {{birth date and age|1941|10|23|df=y}}
|birth_place = [[Orvieto]], Italy
|place_of_residence =
|education =
|employer =
|known_for = [[Fraud]]
|nationality = Italian
|spouse =
|occupation = Former owner of [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]]<ref>{{cite news|title= Former MGM Owner Fights to Reclaim It |work= The Los Angeles Times|date=1996-08-30|url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-08-30-fi-39105-story.html|access-date=2010-08-28}}</ref> and founder of [[MGM-Pathé Communications]]
|conviction_status =
|children =
|charge =
|conviction_penalty =
}}

'''Giancarlo Parretti''' (born 23 October 1941) is an Italian financier,<ref>{{cite news|title= Despite Giancarlo Parretti's lavish lifestyle and his bid for MGM/UA, the Italian financier remains a little-known outsider. |work= The Los Angeles Times|date=1990-05-06|url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-05-06-fi-464-story.html|access-date=2010-08-28 | first1=Alan | last1=Citron | first2=Michael | last2=Cieply}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title= The Mogul Behind Pathe's Bid |work= The Los Angeles Times|date=1990-03-08|url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-03-08-fi-2954-story.html|access-date=2010-08-28 | first=Paul | last=Richter}}</ref> who has bought, sold, and operated numerous businesses.

== Early life ==
Parretti was born in [[Orvieto]], north of Rome, Italy. He worked as a waiter in London before moving to [[Sicily]].

== Career ==

=== Real estate ===
In Sicily, Parretti claimed to have used government aid to buy and sell at least four hotels. In 1983, he bought three Italian insurance companies and two years later sold them to a [[Geneva]]-based [[merchant bank]], Sasea Holdings.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Cohen |first1=Roger |title=Ambitious Financier Behind Pathe - NYTimes.com |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/08/business/ambitious-financier-behind-pathe.html |access-date=25 October 2024 |date=March 8, 1990 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150525193938/https://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/08/business/ambitious-financier-behind-pathe.html |archive-date=25 May 2015}}</ref>

Parretti once was an owner and chairman of the 300-hotel Melia Hotel chain, and Renta Immobiliaria S.A, a Spanish real estate company. He was once a partner of the Spanish newspaper ''[[El Mundo (Spain)|El Mundo]]''.

=== Media industry ===
From 1979 to 1981, Parretti was chairman of [[Siracusa Calcio]], and partners with [[Gianni De Michelis]] and {{ill|Cesare De Michelis|it}} in the daily newspaper "Il Diario", that was published between 1979 and 1981.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lippman |first1=John |title=Pathe's Chief Gets Prison Sentence in Italian Court |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-04-04-fi-638-story.html |access-date=25 October 2024 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=4 April 1990}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=parretti-arrested-on-taxes |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/28/business/parretti-arrested-on-taxes.html |access-date=25 October 2024 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=1991-12-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=CHEVILLEY |first1=Philippe |title=Giancarlo Parretti incarcéré pour fraude fiscale |url=https://www.lesechos.fr/1991/12/giancarlo-parretti-incarcere-pour-fraude-fiscale-959330 |access-date=25 October 2024 |work=[[Les Echos (France)]] |date=1991-12-30}}</ref>

In 1986, Parretti gained control of ''[[Le Matin de Paris]]'', a Socialist newspaper in Paris, which went bankrupt a year later.<ref>{{cite magazine|last1= McClintick|first1= David|first2=ANNE|last2=FAIRCLOTH|date= July 8, 1996 |title= The Predator: How an Italian thug looted MGM, brought Credit Lyonnais to its knees, and made the Pope cry |magazine= [[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]] |url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1996/07/08/214344/index.htm }}</ref>

=== Pathé ===
In 1989, he took over [[The Cannon Group, Inc.]] from [[Menahem Golan]] and [[Yoram Globus]]. Almost immediately afterwards, he made plans to take over the historic French studio [[Pathé]], and changed Cannon's name to [[Pathé#Natan to Parretti|Pathé Communications]] in anticipation of the buyout. However, the French government blocked his bid due to concerns about his background.<ref>{{cite news|title= Hollywood: Giancarlo Parretti's scramble to buy the studio last October included a possible CIA operative and several members of the secretive Knights of Malta. |work= The Los Angeles Times|date=1991-04-24|url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-04-24-fi-564-story.html|access-date=2010-08-28 | first1=Alan | last1=Citron | first2=Michael | last2=Cieply}}</ref>

<blockquote>"In 1990, the Italian financier Giancarlo Parretti was trying to line up the [[Liberian government]] as an investor in a company he was using to buy MGM/UA Communications. But the relationship ended when Mr. Parretti’s ally, the Liberian president [[Samuel K. Doe]], was tortured and killed by opponents."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Cieply |first1=Michael |title=Qaddafi Money Casts a Shadow in Hollywood |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/09/business/09beckerman.html |access-date=25 October 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=March 8, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170517151308/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/09/business/09beckerman.html |archive-date=17 May 2017}}</ref></blockquote>

Undaunted, Parretti bought [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] (MGM) in 1990 for $1.2 billion,<ref>{{cite news|last1=Stevenson|first1=Richard W.|title=Pathe in $1.2 Billion Deal to Buy MGM/UA|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/08/business/pathe-in-1.2-billion-deal-to-buy-mgm-ua.html|access-date=July 14, 2014|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=March 8, 1990}}</ref> using money borrowed from the Dutch arm of [[Crédit Lyonnais]] and contingent on future profits financing the purchase from mogul [[Kirk Kerkorian]].

Parretti persuaded [[Steve Ross (businessman)|Steve Ross]] (who, at the time, was chairman of [[Time Warner]]) to guarantee a $650 million loan to help his Pathé Communications to carry out the deal, with Time Warner in return gaining access to 3,000 films in the Pathé and MGM/UA libraries to distribute worldwide through theaters, TV and home video.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Greenwald |first=John |title=What Makes Giancarlo Run? |url=https://time.com/archive/6714689/what-makes-giancarlo-run/|url-status=live|magazine=TIME |date=April 23, 1990 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001003000/https://time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,969937,00.html |archive-date=1 October 2007}}</ref>

Parretti then merged the former Cannon with the MGM purchase to create the short-lived [[MGM-Pathé Communications]].

{{see|Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer#MGM-Pathé Communications}}

=== MGM ===
Under Parretti's control, MGM released almost no films (one victim being the ''[[James Bond]]'' franchise; the planned production of the seventeenth Bond film, ''Property of a Lady''<ref>
{{Cite web |author= |date=February 18, 1991 |title=007 Producer Fires Legal Salvo At MGM |url=https://variety.com/1991/film/features/007-producer-fires-legal-salvo-at-mgm-99125807/ |access-date=December 21, 2023 |website=Variety |language=en-US |archive-date=October 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024070742/https://variety.com/1991/film/features/007-producer-fires-legal-salvo-at-mgm-99125807/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=October 12, 2016 |title=A summary of Southern California-related business litigation developments during the past week. - latimes |website=[[Los Angeles Times]] |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-10-15-fi-1998-story.html |access-date=December 21, 2023 |archive-date=September 15, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150915200331/http://articles.latimes.com/1990-10-15/business/fi-1998_1_distribution-contract |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=August 13, 2014 |title=Timothy Dalton talks 'Chuck,' 'The Tourist,' and, of course, Bond {{!}} PopWatch {{!}} EW.com |url=http://popwatch.ew.com/2010/11/01/timothy-dalton-chuck-the-tourist-bond/ |access-date=December 21, 2023 |archive-date=August 13, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140813055211/http://popwatch.ew.com/2010/11/01/timothy-dalton-chuck-the-tourist-bond/ |url-status= }}</ref>), while Parretti enjoyed a [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]] mogul lifestyle. He fired most of the accounting staff, appointed his then 21-year-old daughter to a senior financial post, and used company money to buy lavish gifts for several girlfriends, including a former runner-up for [[Miss Universe]]. In 1991, his ownership dissolved in a flurry of lawsuits and a default to Crédit Lyonnais, and Parretti faced [[securities fraud]] charges in both the United States and Europe.<ref>{{cite news|title= SEC Steps Up Investigation of MGM Deal : Entertainment: Information is sought on temporary financing used by Giancarlo Parretti in his purchase of the studio. |work= The Los Angeles Times|date=1992-12-21|url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-12-21-fi-1873-story.html|access-date=2010-08-28 | first=James | last=Bates}}</ref><ref>
{{cite news|title= Fight Over MGM-Pathe Is Pushed Up a Notch |work= The Los Angeles Times|date=1991-07-09|url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-07-09-fi-2171-story.html|access-date=2010-08-28 | first=Alan | last=Citron}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title= MGM Deal Made Without Title to Stock, Suit Says |work= The Los Angeles Times|date=1991-04-10|url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-04-10-mn-177-story.html|access-date=2010-08-28 | first1=Michael | last1=Cieply | first2=Alan | last2=Citron}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title= Insurer Claims to Own 35% of MGM |work= The Los Angeles Times|date=1991-04-05|url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-04-05-fi-1845-story.html|access-date=2010-08-28 | first1=Michael | last1=Cieply | first2=Alan | last2=Citron}}</ref> In March 1999, he was found guilty of misuse of corporate funds and fraud and he was [[Trial in absentia|sentenced in absentia]] to four years in prison and fined 1 million [[French franc|Ff]] by a Paris court.<ref>AFP-Extel News Limited. March 31, 1991</ref>

<blockquote>"an ex-waiter whose principal expertise was Ponzi schemes, not film"...much of the bank's money went to what were euphemistically called 'development deals' involving young women who were neither filmmakers nor developers"<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bart |first1=Peter |author1-link=Peter Bart |title=MGM: Sometimes a Roaring Silence Is Best |url=https://variety.com/2013/biz/news/mgm-sometimes-a-roaring-silence-is-best-1200341378/ |access-date=25 October 2024 |work=Variety |date=10 April 2013}}</ref> – [[Peter Bart]]</blockquote>

== In popular culture ==
Parretti is the subject of the 2024 documentary ''The Man Who Definitely Didn’t Steal Hollywood'', directed by John Dower.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2024/10/18/the-man-who-definitely-didnt-steal-hollywood-bbc-two-review/|title=The Man Who Definitely Didn't Steal Hollywood, review: a delightful yarn, plump with absurdity|first=Jasper|last=Rees|work=The Telegraph |date=October 18, 2024|via=www.telegraph.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00241jq|title=BBC Two - The Man Who Definitely Didn't Steal Hollywood|website=BBC}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[List of trading losses]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3030574/ Giancarlo Parretti] at [[IMDb]]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parretti, Giancarlo}}
[[Category:1941 births]]
[[Category:People from Orvieto]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Film studio executives]]
[[Category:Perjurers]]
[[Category:Italian fraudsters]]
[[Category:Italian white-collar criminals]]
[[Category:People convicted of fraud]]
[[Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer executives]]
[[Category:People convicted in absentia]]
[[Category:The Cannon Group, Inc. people]]

Konpeitō

2025-07-07T20:23:29Z

2A00:23C8:21C2:A401:5818:A4E:F5B6:3AA: /* Other uses */

{{Short description|Japanese sugar candy}}
{{Italic title|reason=[[:Category:Japanese words and phrases]]}}
{{Infobox food
| name = ''Konpeitō''
| image = Kompeito konpeito.JPG
| image_size = 220px
| caption = ''Konpeitō'' in various colors
| alternate_name =
| country = [[Japan]]
| region =
| creator =
| type = [[Confectionery]]
| served =
| main_ingredient = [[Sugar]], water
| variations =
| calories =
| other =
}}

{{nihongo|'''''Konpeitō'''''|金平糖{{lang|en|,}} こんぺいとう}}, also spelled '''''kompeitō''''', is a type of Japanese [[sugar candy]]. It takes the form of a small sphere with a bumpy surface, and comes in a variety of colors and flavors.<ref>Richard Hosking ''A Dictionary of Japanese Food'' 1996 Page 84 " '''Konpeitō''' コンペイトー金平糖 comfit. A sugar candy introduced by the Portuguese in the sixteenth century, one kind of higashi. It is a small toffee sphere (5 mm in diameter) with a pimply surface, made from sugar, water, and flour in a variety of colors. Originally there was a sesame seed in the middle, later a poppy seed, but nowadays no seed at all. The word comfit derives from the Portuguese confeito."</ref> Introduced from Portugal as a sugar-coated confection with a [[poppy]] seed or [[sesame]] seed center, ''konpeitō'' was eventually transformed into an all-sugar confection with a {{nihongo3|coarse sugar|ザラメ|zarame}} center.<ref name="alic">{{cite web|url=https://www.alic.go.jp/joho-s/joho07_002730.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240223114700/https://www.alic.go.jp/joho-s/joho07_002730.html|script-title=ja:シュガーロードの砂糖文化とそのお菓子|language=ja|publisher=Independent Administrative Institution Agriculture & Livestock Industries Corporation|date=11 July 2022|archive-date=23 February 2024|access-date=23 February 2024}}</ref>

==Etymology==
The word {{lang|ja-Latn|konpeitō}} comes from the [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] word {{lang|pt|confeito}} ("[[comfit]]"), which is a type of sugar candy, and also an umbrella term for sweets in general.<ref>{{cite book|title=Voices of Early Modern Japan: Contemporary Accounts of Daily Life|author=Constantine Vaporis|year=2012|page=99|quote=Even though the Portuguese were expelled from Japan in 1639, pan (bread), konpeito (a type of candy), tempura}}</ref>

The characters {{lang|ja|金平糖}} (lit. "golden flat sugar") are {{lang|ja-Latn|[[ateji]]}} selected mostly for their phonetic value and can also be written {{lang|ja|金米糖}} or {{lang|ja|金餅糖}}.

== History ==
The technique for producing sugar candy was introduced to Japan in the early 16th century by Portuguese traders. The infrastructure and refining technology of sugar had not yet been established in Japan. As {{lang|ja-Latn|konpeitō}} uses much sugar, it was rare and expensive. In 1569, [[Luís Fróis]], a Portuguese missionary, presented a glass flask of {{lang|ja-Latn|konpeitō}} to [[Oda Nobunaga]] in order to obtain the permit for mission work of Christianity.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.scipress.org/e-library/sof/pdf/0001.PDF |title=Science on form: proceedings of the First International Symposium |page=4 |author1=Shozo Ishizaka |author2=Y. Kato |author3=R. Takaki |year=1987 |quote=This candy was brought to Japan for the first time by a Portuguese missionary, Luis Frois, in 1569. It was among some presents to Nobunaga, the ruler of Japan of that time. The sugar candy was kept in a bottle of glass, and was called "confeitos" in Portuguese. |access-date=2017-02-05 |archive-date=2016-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304132845/http://www.scipress.org/e-library/sof/pdf/0001.PDF |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=A history of glass in Japan |page=159 |author=Dorothy Blair |publisher=Corning Museum of Glass |year=1973 |quote=The Jesuit Father Luis Frois is said to have presented to Oda Nobunaga candles and a glass flask filled with kompeito (a kind of sugar candy); and to Ashikaga Yoshiaki, silk and a glass vessel with a broken handle. }}</ref>

By the [[Meiji period]], {{lang|ja-Latn|konpeitō}} had already been culturally prescribed as one of the standards of Japanese sweets—the character [[Sugar Plum Fairy]] in ''[[The Nutcracker]]'' was translated into {{lang|ja-Latn|Konpeitō no Sei}} ({{lang|ja|金平糖の精}}, "Fairy of {{lang|ja-Latn|Konpeitō}}").<ref>{{citation |work=Shūkan Asahi |volume=106 |year=2001 |page=125 |title=..まずは、チャイコフスキーの「くるみ割り人形」から「金平糖の精の踊り」。}}</ref>

==Production==
''Konpeitō'' is usually {{convert|5|to|10|mm|in|abbr=on}} in diameter and is produced by repeatedly coating a sugar syrup over a core consisting of a grain of coarse sugar. Originally, the core was a [[poppy seed]]. The process is somewhat similar to the ''[[dragée]]'' process, except the candies are produced by being ladled with sugar syrup and rotated slowly in a large heated [[gong]]-shaped tub (jap. 銅鑼, ''dora''). Each grain of the core sugar grows over the course of several days with the continued rotating, heating, and application of syrup, becoming a ball covered with tiny bulges. It usually takes 7–13 days to make ''konpeitō'' and they are still crafted by artisans today.<ref>{{citation |title=金平糖の作り方 |publisher=Ebisudo-Seika |url=http://www.ebisudo-seika.co.jp/hpgen/HPB/entries/11.html}}</ref>

== Other uses ==
[[File:金平糖Konpeito.jpg|thumb|''Konpeitō'']]
The Japanese Ministry of Defense's Emergency Food Ration tins and the [[Japan Ground Self-Defense Force]]'s Combat Ration tins both contain ''konpeito'' candies, in addition to [[hardtack]] bread/biscuits and other food items. While the candies aid in the calorie content necessary for activities, it also helps promote the creation of saliva to make it easier to eat the dry bread. According to the Ministry of Defense's specifications, "Each white emergency ration bag will contain 150g of small dry bread, with 8 whites, 3 reds, 2 yellows, 2 greens as standard, amounting to 15g or more to be put in the bag.” It is thought that providing the 'colorful and enjoyable' ''Konpeito'' will also reduce the stress that would be experienced at times during a disaster.<ref>{{Cite web |title=小形乾パン |url=https://www.mod.go.jp/j/procurement/chotatsu/nds/pdf/n/n5002.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120620064423/https://www.mod.go.jp/j/procurement/chotatsu/nds/pdf/n/n5002.pdf |archive-date=2012-06-20}}</ref>

''Konpeito'' is often used for celebrations such as marriage and childbirth, gifted in elaborate candy boxes called ''bonbonniere'' ({{lang|ja|ボンボニエール}}), from the French {{lang|fr|bonbonnière}}, meaning ''candy box''.<ref>{{cite book|title=The art of Japanese craft: 1875 to the present|author=Felice Fischer|publisher=Philadelphia Museum of Art|year=2008|page=60|quote=Tokyo: Kunaicho, 2004. Yorokobi no kobako: bonbonieru no ishobi (Celebratory miniature boxes: the decorative beauty of the bonboniere).}}</ref> It is also given as a gift for prayers at shrines and temples. The practice of giving bonbonniere dates back to the commemoration ceremony of the Meiji Constitution in 1889 and has since been thought to be a symbol of good luck. The Japanese Imperial Family has used these ''[[Onshino Konpeitō]]'' as the official ‘Welcome’ gift continuously for over 130 years.<ref>{{Cite web |title=（皇室トリビア）引き出物の菓子器ボンボニエールの世界 |url=https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASK8855PFK88UTIL02B.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220704222956/https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASK8855PFK88UTIL02B.html |archive-date=2022-07-04 |access-date=2019-12-13}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.yamada-heiando.jp/media/bonbonniere/|title=幸せを贈る"ボンボニエール"とは？皇室ゆかりの菓子器として、引き出物やお祝いに人気 |date=4 January 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=皇室の菓子器「ボンボニエール」｜農畜産業振興機構 |url=https://www.alic.go.jp/joho-s/joho07_001678.html |access-date=2022-01-26 |website=農畜産業振興機構 |language=ja}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Japanese words from Portuguese]]
*[[Rock candy]]
*''[[Wagashi]]''

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Japanese food and drink}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Konpeito}}
[[Category:Wagashi]]
[[Category:Candy]]
[[Category:Japanese snack food]]