Pistorio was born in
Agira, Italy on 6 January 1936. He graduated in
Electronic Engineering at the
Politecnico di Torino, his early career was at
Motorola where he became the European marketing director in 1967. He later became Director of WorldWide Marketing, Vice President of Motorola Corporation and Director General of the International Semiconductor Division, responsible for planning, production and marketing worldwide excluding the USA. In 1980 he returned to Italy to lead the SGS group, a microelectronics company that went on to merge with the semiconductor arm of Thompson, a French electronics company, becoming SGS-Thomson Microelectronics (now known as
STMicroelectronics), a company, which under his leadership, grew to become one of the leading worldwide manufacturers of semiconductors. In 2005 Pistorio stepped down as CEO and was named honorary president. Two years later he was nominated President of
Telecom Italia. Pistorio served as vice-president of
Confindustria for innovation and research from 2005 to 2008. He sat as an independent consultant on the board of
Fiat, and also of Chartered Semiconductor. He was also involved with: • ''Conseil Stratégique pour l'attractivité du pays auprès du Premier Ministre français'' •
Internal Advisory Council Singapore Government •
International Business Council of the World Economic Forum •
World Business Council for sustainable development • ''Conseil Stratégique des Technologies de l'Information francese'' • '
European Round Table of Industrialists (ERT). He received many honours, including
honorary degrees from
University of Genova,
Malta,
Pavia,
Catania,
Palermo and
Sannio. In April 2005 he founded the Pistorio Foundation. The Foundation is a not-for-profit organization based in
Geneva,
Switzerland, whose scope is to supply aid in the fields of health, nutrition and education, whether through direct aid, donations or financial or humanitarian support for charities helping children, in the most deprived areas of the world, suffering from war, natural disasters, and other calamities. Pistorio died in
Milan on 26 September 2025, at the age of 89. ==Awards and recognition==