Claudio Castiglioni, MV Agusta President, Dies at 63

It’s never easy to pass along news like this, especially when someone like Claudio Castiglioni is involved. The 63-year-old CEO of MV Agusta passed away this morning in a clinic from Varese, Italy, leaving behind an enormous legacy.The cause of death has not yet been made public.

Coming as a blow to the motorcycling community, the death of Castiglioni leaves us pondering on the future of the MV Agusta, a company that was run by his son, Giovanni, in recent months.

However, we must not forget that Castiglioni was responsible for basically saving the iconic brand, being behind the brand’s buyback from Harley-Davidson last summer.

But MV Agusta is not the only important motorcycle brand that had Castiglioni to thank for its notoriety and that left many of you out there dreaming of its two-wheeled wonders. Castiglioni has also owned parts of other renown Italian brands such as Ducati, Moto Morini and parent companies like Cagiva.

Naturally, as he took legendary designer Massimo Tamburini with him from Ducati to MV Agusta, we could say that Castiglioni was behind bikes such as the Ducati 916 and Monster, the MV F4 and Brutale. All of these bikes that not only looked awesome, but performed as such. Also, few of you know that he was also responsible for getting Ducati involved in the World Superbike championship.

"There are so many bikes that wouldn't exist if it weren't for Claudio. His passion for making beautiful bikes is what shaped everything we did, and his presence is always felt here,” British designer Adrian Morton, who worked closely with Castiglioni on the new F3, told MCN.