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December Newsletter
20th Anniversary of the Pistorio Foundation
In memory of Pasquale Pistorio
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“In the present world scenario, children deserve the maximum attention: on one side to protect them as they are the most vulnerable human beings; on the other to educate them because they will be the future citizens of the planet and ultimately, the continuous cultural evolution of humanity to build a better world depends on them.” Pasquale Pistorio
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This newsletter will be dedicated to the memory of my late father, Pasquale Pistorio, former President and Founder of the Pistorio Foundation. He passed away on September 26, 2025, at the age of 89, marking for many the end of an era and leaving behind the legacy of a giant.
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My father held himself to the highest standards as a businessman, philanthropist, and human being. At work, he pursued excellence relentlessly, combining what he termed “American style business rigor” with European humanism, with an unshakeable moral integrity. A natural extrovert, he was a true “people’s person”, he loved interacting and sincerely cared for others, and took pride in helping them succeed. While he was lenient towards mistakes, and understood they were necessary to improve, he had zero tolerance for ethical lapses or violations of the culture he created at STMicroelectronics.
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His management style was unique, he placed people at the center of all business processes. At eighteen years-old, he had developed his “philosophy” of life: that to be truly happy and at peace, it was important that others be happy as well. Hence, it was one’s duty to help alleviate the suffering of others and improve the living conditions of others and humanity as a whole. He believed that an individual’s happiness was magnified in a world where the people around you were happy, and throughout his existence, his thoughts and efforts were always turned towards his fellow being, from the closest circle of friends and family, to his colleagues, to stakeholders of his enterprises, and to the world at large.
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From his deepest motivations and convictions, he effortlessly combined brilliance, talent, and vision, with a profound empathy for others. He never failed to acknowledge others’ achievements, underlining team effort over his own individual successes, valuing people and making them feel important. Whether he was in the company of a state President or of a worker, he showed the same respect and courtesy.
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In his private life, he preferred the company of family and close friends he kept since high school, university or work life, and invited to his home especially those he felt were lonely or going through a troubled time. Despite a no-nonsense attitude, he had an extraordinary sense of humor, and there was laughter when he was around. His good mood and optimism were contagious, and whether he engaged in a professional task or a household chore, he always attended to it with joy.
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From humble beginnings, following his engineering degree, Pasquale went from a Motorola representative salesman on a bicycle in Turin and Milan, Italy, to being the first non-American corporate Vice President of Motorola, based in Phoenix, in less than 15 years, in 1977. When he joined SGS in 1980 as CEO, moving back to Italy, the company had revenues of 100M and catastrophic losses since 10 years. In three years he turned around SGS, led the merger with Thomson in 1987, and continued to served as CEO and President of the newly formed STMicroelectronics until March 2005. In the last year of his full tenure, 2004, ST posted a net revenue of 8.9 Billion USD. From 1994 to 2004, ST generated 58.8 billion in cumulative revenues with an operative profit of 12,2% and an annual composite growth of 12,8%, compared to 7,8% of the market. (source: MicroMega News, Internal ST Agrate Magazine, February 2005). From 1987 to 2004, ST went from 14th to 4th in world ranking in the semiconductor industry.
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Pasquale created billions in wealth for government shareholders, tens of thousands of jobs worldwide, and in every single country he worked, he was decorated by the local authorities with the highest recognitions, from the Officier of the Legion d’Honneur to Honorary Citizenship in Singapore, and others in Italy, Malta, and Morocco. ST always had an integrated presence in all countries it was operating, making alliances with local universities and creating design centers and offices, contributing to lifting local economies and industries. Pasquale also changed the economy and history of Europe by salvaging the semiconductor industry in this continent, as acknowledged by the IEEE, in a sector today recognized as highly strategic, although he had understood this already when he had just started his career.
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“As human beings, we should all be proud of our technological and economic achievements, but should also be very ashamed of the imbalances and tragedies that exist in the world. I ask myself: am I guilty for these problems, is it my fault? Indeed the answer is no. It is true however that I carry my part of responsibility for not doing enough to correct those problems.” Pasquale Pistorio
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His concerns, however, always extended far beyond business. His mission was to make the world a better place, and not only through technological innovation. Our discussions at home were always about how to improve the world. Technology and money were seen as tools to improve the living standards of people. Just as he was a visionary in the industry, he lucidly identified the major problems of the world, 50 years ago, and accurately forecast today’s greatest challenges: global warming, wealth inequality, and overpopulation. In the early nineties, before most people had heard of sustainability, he published a company-wide Environmental Decalogue in 1993 in ST. By 2000, ST had proven through their corporate environmental programs and green leadership, that “Green is Black” (that is, helping the environment makes economic sense and is profitable). The company became first in the industry in Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibility, winning prestigious awards including the US EPA award (twice) and European Quality Award.
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While at ST, as a member of the UNICT Task Force, he created the ST Foundation, in 2001, to help bridge the digital divide, which today counts 1 million trainees worldwide. Bridging the Digital Divide is a means of contrasting existing inequalities, exacerbated by the lack of access to technology in developing countries. He had also been on the executive committee of the World Council on Sustainable Development and as part of the World Semiconductor Council had initiated and led the industry commitment to the successful phasing out of highly pollutant PFCs from the semiconductor sector, receiving a letter of acknowledgement by President Bill Clinton.
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His realizations of the great challenges of humanity were the motivations that lead him to create the Pistorio Foundation 20 years ago, as he elaborates in this Letter from the Founder from 2005, https://www.pistoriofoundation.org/from-the-founder/. When my father retired, he placed half of his retirement bonus to create the Foundation with the mission of providing and improving educational opportunities for children in need from primary school to professional school. He was driven by the desire to do his best to personally contribute even in a small way to alleviating world poverty, and wanted to make sure that all investments would have the greatest impact and not be wasted on unnecessary overhead costs but rather channeled directly to development projects on the ground. He wanted to be actively involved in the process of project definition, implementation and oversight, and measurement of impact.
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Through these principles, starting with modest resources, the Foundation, in 20 years, was able to help more than 5,000 children attend school and build over 55 school and village infrastructure projects in six counties, benefitting hundreds of thousands of children and families. Pasquale believed that free access to quality education, at least through professional school and/or university, was essential to breaking the intergenerational cycle of poverty. The Foundation recognized that barriers to learning were complex and context-specific and therefore tailored its interventions based on local needs, ensuring access to quality education alongside medical care, nutritious school meals, sanitation, and life-skills and hygiene education.
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In most villages where we operated, schools became the center of community life and development. Children gained education and health support, found employment after professional school, and contributed to their home communities. Families were also supported through income-generating activities—primarily in agriculture, community engagement, and assistance in securing birth certificates and IDs. Working with local NGOs, these efforts helped dozens of villages in Thailand develop. In recent years, the Foundation has turned its focus to underserved regions in Africa and to areas of educational poverty in Italy.
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Another unique aspect of the Foundation is that 100% of all donations from supporters is directly devolved to projects on location for our beneficiaries. All administration, fundraising, and central costs, have always been covered by the initial capital. An immense amount of work has been done by generous volunteers over the years, as my father intended.
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This sharing of love and enthusiasm by my father towards others and human life is the sort of impact we should all aspire towards, and are capable of, because when our horizons shift from our own selves to the whole of humanity, the love we generate from caring for others is what makes life worth living, and the rewards of transformed hearts one has touched are priceless because no amount of money will ever buy love and heart space.
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Very few know that my dad’s second name was Antonio because my grandfather dreamed of Saint Anthony when my grandmother was expecting my father. Incidentally, Saint Anthony is the patron of the poor. I am convinced that God does not operate only through Saints and Church people, but also through people of power and influence, to demonstrate that it is possible to be powerful yet humble and just, to have means and yet be generous, to be brilliant and use it to serve the world. And to show that this is not only possible, but desirable, because the spiritual rewards far surpass those of a life lived only for material gain. On his passing, as when he was alive, there was an outpouring of love from all over the world: countless colleagues and friends sharing heartfelt messages in social media posts, telegrams, news articles, and emails, on how Pasquale was their mentor, spiritual father, and inspiration. Even after 20 years since retiring, people’s love and admiration for him are still very alive and strong.
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Thank you, Pasquale, for your example, for setting the bar high on what is humanly possible, and for Caring with a capital C for all. Your teachings will not be lost, and your legacy will live on, as we will strive to follow in your footsteps.
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My father was very fond of the Foundation he created, and one of the ways to honor his memory is to contribute to our work in which he truly believed. Even small donations can make a difference in a child’s life. We are very grateful to those who have contributed consistently over the years even small donations, because they are drops that make ripples and waves of change over time. On January 6, 2026 Pasquale would have turned 90, on the day of the epiphany, the day the Kings gave gifts to Jesus. All the gifts and donations to help us reach out to more children will be his favorite birthday homage in heaven as he looks down on his beloved humanity.
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“We are very well aware that no matter how successful our efforts will be, they will represent a drop in an ocean of needs. But we believe that any contribution is valuable for the few people we can materially assist, and we can help spread the social awareness with the many more people that we can reach intellectually.” Pasquale Pistorio
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In wishing you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, we thank you for your support!
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Pistorio Foundation
Via Bice Cremagnani 15/7
Vimercate (MB), Italy
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