Companies in Milan

Most of the electricity moving through Europe's power grids travels along cables made by a company most consumers have never heard of: Prysmian. The world's largest cable maker, spun off from Pirelli in 2005 but tracing its roots to 1879, supplies everything from high-voltage submarine interconnectors to the fiber optics behind broadband networks. The group's engineering sweet spot is extreme environments. Its long-distance HVDC submarine cable projects link offshore wind farms to mainland grids, while its aerospace and automotive divisions make lightweight wiring harnesses for planes and electric vehicles. Prysmian operates more than 100 plants across 50 countries, employs roughly 30,000 people, and booked about €15 billion in sales in 2023 — a scale that lets it take on turnkey power-grid projects most rivals cannot finance alone. For industrial buyers, the practical value is qualification: Prysmian's cable systems carry type-testing to IEC and other international standards, which shortens the compliance cycle for projects where a failed cable is not an option. Around 150 million kilometers of its cables have been installed worldwide — enough to circle the Earth several thousand times — and its acquisition of General Cable in 2018 made it the clear number one in North America as well.

Ask a Formula 1 engineer which tire maker has spent the most time under the most extreme working conditions on the planet, and the answer is Pirelli — the sport's exclusive tire supplier since 2011. Founded in Milan in 1872 as a rubber company, Pirelli pivoted to tires and never looked back, building its reputation on the P Zero and Cinturato families that equip supercars from Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Porsche. Beyond the paddock glamour sits a serious industrial player: about 31,000 employees, roughly €6.6 billion in 2023 revenue, and factories on four continents. Its high-value strategy concentrates on premium and prestige tires, which is why it supplies original-equipment fitments to most European luxury marques and runs a dedicated cyber tire program — sensors embedded in tires that report pressure, temperature, and load data to fleet operators. For procurement teams, Pirelli matters in two niches: winter and performance tires, where homologation and noise/rolling-resistance standards vary by market, and the fast-growing segment of EV-specific tires engineered to handle instant torque and heavier battery weight.