Italy’s Populist Winner Courted Investors Without Losing His Base

The newest star of Europe’s anti-establishment movement courted investors in London, met American legislators and wooed Italian businesses – all without losing his exasperated, angry base.

Luigi Di Maio, 31, has turned the Five Star Movement into Italy’s single biggest political force, winning the most votes in Sunday’s election, upending experts’ calculations and casting doubt on the country’s political future: “Di Maio victory, Italy ungovernable,” blared Turin’s La Stampa newspaper.

While no party won a majority, Di Maio emerged with huge bargaining power in talks to form a government. That could help him champion the party platform of more spending for the poor, curbs on immigration and renegotiating European Union treaties.

His style couldn’t be more different from that of party founder Beppe Grillo, a disheveled former comedian known for his public rants, his politically incorrect language and his rabid euro-skepticism. The short-haired, clean-shaven Di Maio, by contrast, calmly discussed “Byzantine” banking laws and non-performing loans in a pre-election interview with Bloomberg Television.