Telecom Italia Once Tried to Buy Apple, Now It Is in Trouble. Here’s Why
The former Italian telephone monopoly is in talks to sell off its crown jewels to pay down a mountain of debt.
Telecom Italia's headquarters in Rozzano, near Milan.
Photographer: Alessia Pierdomenico/Bloomberg
This article is for subscribers only.
It’s not a misprint. Telecom Italia SpA, Italy’s beleaguered former telephone monopoly, once pitched a plan to buy Apple Inc.
About 25 years ago a group of executives from the carrier flew to California to meet Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, with an audacious plan to buy the tech company at a time it was struggling to make headway against rivals like International Business Machines Corp.