The World Before and After

The world had begun to move. In January 1886, Karl Benz filed the patent for the first modern automobile. It was not yet the automotive industry we know today. It was a noisy, fragile three-wheeled vehicle. Yet within that patent lay the future of cities, highways, tourism and personal mobility. That summer, Benz drove his motor vehicle through the streets of Mannheim in one of the earliest public demonstrations in automotive history. Passers-by watched with curiosity and scepticism. Some laughed. Others dismissed it as a passing novelty. No one imagined that within a few decades the world would be redesigned around that engine. Today it feels ordinary. At the time it was revolutionary. For thousands of years, people and goods had moved through animal power. Suddenly, a machine appeared that could move itself. A vehicle was not simply being invented. Modern cities were being born. Mass tourism was being born. Highways, contemporary logistics and the very concept of individual mobility were being born. The twentieth century of shortened distances began there. But there was more. Energy—still unfamiliar to most people at the time—was becoming a network. The systems that would make large-scale electricity distribution possible were being perfected. Today, switching on a light is the most ordinary of gestures. In 1886, it was still a promise. Yet within a few years, cities would begin to glow after dark, factories would operate beyond sunset, and homes themselves would be transformed. Electricity ceased to be an experiment and became infrastructure. Much as the internet would a century later. The same year brought another breakthrough destined to leave its mark. On 11 November 1886, Heinrich Hertz demonstrated the existence of electromagnetic waves. Few appreciated the significance of the discovery, yet from that insight would emerge radio, television, radar, mobile telephony, satellites and Wi-Fi. In that German laboratory, the principle that would make a connected society possible first took shape. The world we know today—built on instantaneous communication—began there. But there was more. 1886 was also the year in which global consumer culture began to emerge. In Atlanta, pharmacist John Pemberton created a new drink. You already know its name: Coca-Cola. It was not merely a product. It became one of the first truly global brands in modern history. For the first time, a commercial identity proved capable of transcending geography and speaking to millions of people across different cultures and territories. It was the dawn of the brand economy. From beverages to healthcare. That same year, Johnson & Johnson was founded, one of the clearest signs of the rise of modern medicine. For centuries, health had largely been an individual concern. Now industrial processes, scientific research, hygiene standards and large-scale production entered the picture. The dramatic rise in life expectancy that would characterise the twentieth century has its roots in developments such as these. Let us remain in America. In 1886, the Statue of Liberty was inaugurated in New York. A century of opportunity was beginning. For millions of migrants, it would become the symbol of a new possibility, a second chance, a different future. More than any other monument, it embodied the optimism of the late nineteenth century: the belief that tomorrow could be better than today. Yet another detail—one that does not seem important at first glance—would prove equally significant. Germanium. The seed of the digital age. In 1886, German chemist Clemens Winkler discovered the element germanium. At the time it was simply a new addition to the periodic table. A century later it would become fundamental to electronics and semiconductor technology. History often plants its seeds long before it harvests their fruits. While the world was still living in the age of coal, one of the materials that would help make the digital revolution possible had already appeared. Then there was aluminium. In 1886, Charles Martin Hall in the United States and Paul Héroult in France independently discovered the process that made aluminium production economically viable. Before then, aluminium had been rare and expensive. After 1886, it would be everywhere. In factories. In transport. In buildings. In aircraft. One of the most underestimated industrial innovations in modern history had quietly arrived. The same year also witnessed what might be called the birth of mass information. In 1886, the Linotype machine was introduced. This revolutionary invention transformed the industrial printing of newspapers and books. If the telegraph had accelerated the transmission of news, the Linotype enabled information to be produced on a massive scale. It helped lay the foundations of the media society. Newspapers could now be printed faster and in far greater quantities. Ottmar Mergenthaler's invention, first installed at the New York Tribune, fundamentally reshaped publishing itself. Thomas Edison called it the eighth wonder of the world. For the first time, entire lines of text could be cast from a keyboard as a single piece of metal, replacing the painstaking manual composition of individual characters. Information became more accessible. Knowledge became more democratic. The mass society of the twentieth century also begins here. From one revolutionary invention to another that entered everyday life more quietly. In 1886, Josephine Cochrane patented the first truly practical dishwasher. It may seem a modest invention—but it was not. It marked the beginning of a profound transformation: technology entering daily life. Innovation was no longer only about producing more. It was also about living better. The world itself was becoming increasingly connected. By 1886, undersea telegraph cables already linked different continents. For the first time, a piece of news could cross an ocean in minutes rather than weeks. For those living at the time, the experience was every bit as transformative as the internet would later be for us. Perhaps the comparison is bold. Yet one could argue that the telegraph network was the internet of its age. Information ceased to travel at the speed of ships and began to move at the speed of electricity. That is the true distinction between the world before and the world after. The most important change was not any individual invention. It was the transformation in how society itself functioned. We have described ten developments surrounding that single year. In 1886, another project was taking shape—one that would become reality three years later, when Paris unveiled the Eiffel Tower. More than any other monument, it would symbolise humanity's entry into the age of technological progress and the great international exhibitions. The tower did not yet exist. But the world that would make it possible was already under construction. It was like watching dawn break. The sun had not yet risen, yet its light was already visible on the horizon. The passage between two revolutions had begun. The same year brought still more signs of the future. Schuyler Wheeler created the first electric fan. Gottlieb Daimler experimented with the first motor-powered boat. William Stanley patented the first truly practical alternating-current transformer. Everywhere one could sense the same tension toward the future. In 1886, French chemist Henri Moissan succeeded in isolating fluorine for the first time, a scientific achievement that would later earn him the Nobel Prize and open new frontiers in modern chemistry. Another breakthrough largely invisible to the public—but decisive for the scientific and industrial progress of the century to come. Meanwhile, Hall and Héroult's aluminium process continued to develop independently on opposite sides of the Atlantic. Before their discovery, aluminium had been almost as precious as silver. Afterwards, it became one of the defining materials of modernity, transforming industry, transport, construction and, decades later, aviation. Even modern sport was beginning to take shape. In 1886, the league that would eventually evolve into today's English professional football championship was founded. At first glance this may seem a marginal event. In reality, it reflected an urban, industrial society inventing new forms of leisure, collective identity and social interaction. The future was being built not only in factories and laboratories, but also in stadiums and communities. That same year saw the birth of Clarence Birdseye, the man who would later invent the modern frozen-food industry. Karl von Frisch was born as well, destined to revolutionise the study of bees and animal communication. And so was Henri Coandă, a future pioneer of aviation. None of them had yet lived a single day. Yet the twentieth century was already lying in the cradle. In summary, before 1886 what mattered was where things were produced, where people lived and where they worked. Wealth was generated primarily through manufacturing, textiles, coal, steel and physical labour. Businesses grew within relatively narrow boundaries. Information moved slowly. Economic relationships were largely local. After 1886, the world increasingly began to be built around connections: between people, between territories, between markets, between ideas, between capital and enterprise. Modernity begins when connection becomes more important than distance. The First Industrial Revolution built factories. The Second Industrial Revolution built networks. The world that emerged in 1886 began constructing the nervous system that would connect them all. And this is where the story of Banca Sella enters. It connected savings with enterprise. The present—and especially that moment in the present—with the future. People with opportunity. Territories with development. That is why 1886 represents the exact moment when the nineteenth-century industrial world first stepped into modernity. And that is why 1886 is not simply the year in which a bank was founded. It is the year in which a new idea of progress emerged: progress measured not only by the ability to produce more, but by the ability to connect more.

A Start-up Founder Named Gaudenzio

In 1886, Gaudenzio Sella founded Banca Sella in Biella. Today, it is difficult to fully grasp the significance that news carried at the time. It was a decision destined to influence landscapes, cities, commerce, tourism, employment and even the way people understood individual freedom. For much of the nineteenth century, the engine of development had been manufacturing: spinning mills, wool mills, steam-powered machinery and industrial production. The Sella family stood at the heart of this transformation. They belonged to the generation of entrepreneurs who helped turn Biella into one of Europe’s most important textile districts. Yet toward the end of the century, something began to change. Wealth would no longer be generated solely by the ability to produce. Increasingly, it would stem from the ability to connect: connecting capital and enterprise, savings and investment, territories and markets, ideas and opportunities. It was the transition from the First to the Second Industrial Revolution. Steel gradually replaced iron. Electricity began to complement steam power. Communications accelerated. Businesses expanded. Markets widened. A first wave of globalisation—long before the term existed—was beginning to emerge. In this new landscape, the bank acquired a strategic role. No longer merely the guardian of savings, it became an infrastructure for development. Italy itself was still a young nation. The country had been unified only twenty-five years earlier. The scars of the Risorgimento remained visible. Infrastructure still needed to be completed, and public finances represented one of the central challenges facing the nation.

The Sella generation lived through these transformations firsthand. Quintino Sella played a key role in stabilising the finances of the newly unified country. His brother Giuseppe Venanzio became one of the protagonists of Italy’s industrial development. Gaudenzio represented the next chapter: enabling growth through credit and finance. Viewed through the lens of one family, their story mirrors the story of Italy itself. First came the building of the nation. Then the construction of factories. Then the strengthening of the financial instruments capable of supporting businesses and local economies. There is one detail, however, that remains striking even today.
Gaudenzio Sella was only twenty-six years old. Today, we would describe him as a young professional, an emerging talent, an under-thirty entrepreneur. Perhaps even a start-up founder before the term had been invented. In 1886 he became the bank’s first managing director. Freshly graduated in civil engineering, he was deeply committed to study and intellectual inquiry. The future that awaited him had not necessarily been the one he imagined for himself. Yet he accepted the responsibility. Years later, he would write a remarkable sentence: “With that signature, my destiny was sealed.” Contained within those words is perhaps the purest definition of entrepreneurship. To sign. To take responsibility. To choose to make a difference. Every enterprise begins in precisely this way: with someone willing to believe in the future before the future itself becomes visible.

Gaudenzio Sella, 1904 - Self-portrait at San Gerolamo (BI)

Today, we know what they could not have known. We know that the twentieth century would be marked by two world wars, the Great Depression of 1929, dictatorships, reconstruction, economic expansion, computing, the internet and, eventually, artificial intelligence. They knew none of this. In 1886 they were living through what historians would later call the first age of globalisation: a period characterised by confidence, growth and increasing international openness. A moment of apparent calm before the great upheavals of the century to come. Yet this is perhaps the most valuable lesson of all. Organisations are not built merely to prosper in favourable conditions. They are strengthened so that they can endure difficult ones. One hundred and forty years later, there are striking parallels between that historic transition and the one we are experiencing today. Artificial intelligence is transforming the way we work. Digital platforms are reshaping markets. Organisational models continue to evolve. Skills are changing. Entire professions are being reinvented. Just as in 1886, no one can say with certainty what the world will look like twenty years from now. One thing, however, is clear. The organisations that will endure are those capable of interpreting change without blindly chasing fashion. Those able to innovate without losing their identity. Those that regard the future not as a threat, but as a responsibility. That is why 1886 is more than a founding date. It is a metaphor. It marks the moment when a family of industrialists recognised that a new cycle of history was beginning. The moment when credit became a tool for accompanying transformation. The moment when the future changed its profession. And perhaps that is the deepest meaning of these 140 years. Not simply having lived through history. But having learned, generation after generation, to recognise the moment when the world is changing—and to choose, every time, to change with it. 

The Plural Challenge of Gaudenzio

Let us remain in 1886. More precisely, on 23 August. Together with his brothers and cousins, Gaudenzio Sella signed the deed establishing the new banking partnership, Gaudenzio Sella & Compagni. Just a few days later, on 1 September, the bank opened its first branch. Viewed through today’s eyes, the scene resembles the birth of a start-up. There was no large corporate group behind it. There was, however, a large family. Seven partners. A shared vision. And a young founder entrusted with leading a new venture. The difference is that, in 1886, the word start-up did not yet exist. The spirit did. The spirit of someone who understands that the world is changing and decides to build the infrastructure needed to accompany that transformation. Gaudenzio did not imagine a bank as a simple place to store money. In one of his letters he explained that the objective was certainly to pursue legitimate business interests, but also to support “the commerce and industries of the Biella area.” It is a revealing statement. The bank was conceived as a driver of development for a productive territory. Not merely an entrepreneurial project. A bet on the future of an entire community. Gaudenzio Sella would continue thinking like an engineer throughout his life. He designed works in the high Alps, followed projects related to the future Capanna Margherita on Monte Rosa, took an interest in hydroelectric power and industrial innovation, and never stopped studying or writing. Thousands of letters testify to an extraordinary intellectual curiosity. In other words, he was not a banker who also cared about innovation. He was an innovator who chose banking as the instrument through which to realise a vision. That is perhaps the most compelling way to describe the summer of 1886. As the world prepared to enter modernity, a young engineer from Biella understood that true change did not simply consist in inventing new machines. It consisted in creating the conditions that would allow people and businesses to grow. The same insight lies behind every season of innovation. First come the ideas. Then come the infrastructures capable of turning them into reality. Gaudenzio Sella chose to build exactly those infrastructures. And, one hundred and forty years later, that is why his story continues to speak to the present.

«Il futuro non è più incerto del presente». Lo ha scritto nel 1886 Walt Whitman, considerato il padre della poesia americana moderna. Figlio di una famiglia modesta, fa il tipografo, il maestro, il giornalista, l'editore. Non proviene dai salotti letterari dell'epoca: conosce il lavoro, le strade, le fabbriche, i porti, la vita quotidiana delle persone comuni. La sua poesia rompe gli schemi tradizionali: niente metrica rigida, niente linguaggio aristocratico. Per Whitman il futuro non è qualcosa da temere. È il territorio naturale dell'uomo che costruisce, sperimenta e innova. Non invita a dimenticare il passato, ma a considerarlo una base da cui partire. Buon compleanno Sella.

The Story Is Us

We have always said it, and it is worth repeating here: great companies are always built by people. Strategy provides direction. Technology supports vision. Memory strengthens identity. Yet it is people—with their stories, their expertise and their ability to bring together ideas, projects and ambitions—who ultimately make the difference. As we set out to tell the story of the Group’s 140 years, we chose to focus on what is perhaps its most valuable asset: its people. Those who have spent a lifetime with the company. And those who have reinvented their lives somewhere along the way. Ten stories that together form a mosaic, revealing the deeper meaning of an organisation capable of evolving without losing its identity. Ten people with something to say, something to contribute and something to teach. Between past and present. 

A Shared Sense of Purpose

“I joined the company on 3 December 1987, but in the months beforehand I had the opportunity to complete an internship in three different departments—Securities, International and Credit—which allowed me to start getting to know the bank from the inside. On my very first day, I joined the Commercial Securities Department, and from that moment my professional journey in the world of investments, savings and advisory services began. The Sella value I most identify with is customer centricity. Throughout my career, I have interpreted it as listening, understanding genuine needs and taking responsibility. This corporate value has guided my way of working and, as a consequence, the decisions I make, the way I manage activities, lead people and embrace positions of responsibility. How would I describe Sella? It is an organisation that values professionalism, continuous learning and the ability to take on increasing responsibility, while encouraging initiative and entrepreneurship. Working here also means sharing a common culture built on attention to people, collaboration and respect for every role.” 

The Centrality of Trust

“I joined on 16 August 1983, and at the time I had not yet turned nineteen. I started in Vigliano Biellese, learning the role of what was then called a bank clerk—a customer-facing position. From that day onward, my adult life truly began.  The Sella value I identify with most is a phrase I heard several times directly from Maurizio Sella: ‘It is our customers who put bread on our table.’ Even today, everyday experience confirms that people are what make the difference. Nobody is just a number or an employee ID, and our clients perceive that. One unforgettable memory? One day, the typewriter terminal on my desk was replaced by what appeared to be a television. In reality, it was a computer monitor—but I had never seen one before. Innovation was literally knocking at the door. Looking back, it is almost amusing to think that mobile phones and email did not yet exist. Even before I joined, people told me this bank was like a family—and that remains true today. Back then we were around 350 people; now we are several thousand.” 

Clients and Community

“I remember my first days clearly. One of my first assignments was a huge stack of envelopes—more than three hundred monthly account statements—that needed to be filed individually. The Sella value I identify with most is customer centricity, which has always been fundamental to the way I approach my work. Having started my career in a small company within the Sella Group, where client relationships were close and personal, I immediately understood the responsibility that comes with the role, especially when dealing with sensitive matters such as investments. Another value is my connection to the local community. I can see and experience firsthand how the Group invests in and considers the local area a central element of its development. What does the company offer today? Opportunities for growth to those who demonstrate curiosity, innovation, initiative and a willingness to build a personal development path based on responsibility, merit and confidence in the future.” 

The Ethics That Guide Us

“I joined in 1998 in a back-office role within a rapidly growing company where every individual contributed to strengthening the foundations of a more solid business. I learned responsibility, the importance of teamwork and the value of mutual respect—essential elements for growth and for building strong teams. The Sella value that most strongly defines my commitment is attention to the customer. One memory stands out above all others. At the end of a credit-training course, Roberto Rossi told me: ‘Always ask yourself why. Be curious. Learn, propose and approve credit decisions as if you were lending your own money.’ I truly believe that the bank belongs to every one of us. Its healthy and sustainable growth depends on the commitment and ethical conduct of each individual. If I had to describe Sella to younger generations in a single word, it would be: commitment.” 

Understanding Markets

“My first day at work was a mix of emotions. It was the first time I had driven alone, in the middle of a severe storm. Then I arrived at the office: a completely new world of people, markets and responsibilities. I had to transform everything I had studied into reality. What I value most is attention to the customer. Being a complete, trustworthy and well-prepared professional means safeguarding the confidence entrusted to you. It means not only protecting resources but helping clients achieve their objectives and uncover needs or ambitions they may not yet fully recognise. During the most difficult moments in the financial markets, I learned how important trust truly is. I remember one particularly worried client. Together we chose a path that was not the easiest one, but it was the right one. I respected his concerns while helping him understand them. In time, that decision proved correct. That was when I truly understood the value of my work. One word for Sella? Trust. It is an organisation that shaped me and now allows me to pass this passion on to future generations.” 

We Are a Community

“Even today I vividly remember my first day at the bank. It felt like a knot in my stomach—a mixture of pride and fear, the feeling you get when you are about to take a step that changes something inside you. As I walked through the doors of Headquarters in Via Italia, Biella, I felt as though I heard a voice saying: ‘Welcome. Now it’s your turn.’ That evening, on my way home, I smiled and thought: this is only the beginning. That was forty-three years ago. At Sella, people come first. Listening, trust and ethics guide every choice we make. Through innovation and openness, we build strong relationships and solutions that create value for customers, colleagues and communities alike. During the official Labour Day ceremony, I was awarded the Stella al Merito del Lavoro, a recognition of both continuity of service and the contribution I strive to make every day. It was a deeply emotional and immensely proud moment. Joining Sella today means becoming part of a story more than 140 years old that continues to move forward as though it were still its first day. It is a bank, certainly—but it is also much more. It is a place where tradition and innovation coexist, where technology does not replace people but brings them closer together, and where every colleague is part of an ecosystem that grows collectively. Its strength does not lie in its size. Here, you are not a number or a box on an organisational chart. You are someone capable of bringing ideas, energy and vision. You are part of a community founded on trust, ethics and openness to new possibilities.” 

The Professional Family

“My first day was at the old headquarters in Via Italia in Biella. After a quick tour of the offices, I was introduced to the manager of the Accounts and Deposits department. Together with two other new recruits, I received my first assignment: separating hundreds of payment forms from the carbon paper copies attached to them. The value that best defines me is fairness toward the company, my colleagues and our customers. If I had to describe Sella to younger generations in one word, I would simply say: We are a family.” 

Responsibility and Dedication

“My first day felt almost surreal—the classic image of a permanent job in a bank. I experienced a flood of positive emotions: happiness, disbelief and even fear that I might not succeed. Yet I also knew that sooner or later I would find my place. The Sella value that most deeply represents me is working as though the company were my own. I truly feel at home here. One significant moment was when I began opening new operational locations across Italy. Above all, I remember the trust that was placed in me. If I had to summarise my work at Sella in a single expression, it would be: A continuous challenge.” 

Starting with People

“On 2 May 1996, I joined the Accounting and Financial Reporting department of Gestnord Intermediazione SIM, which would later become part of Sella Investimenti Banca and is today Banca Patrimoni Sella. On that first day, excitement got the better of me. A severe migraine forced me to wear sunglasses throughout the day. My new colleagues immediately welcomed me with kindness and consideration, easing my embarrassment. For thirty years now, I have shared with Sella the value of family. And for me, that concept goes far beyond its literal meaning. We are a family at work because we feel part of something larger than ourselves, united by common objectives and growing together through continuous exchanges of knowledge and experience. Sella begins with people. It recognises their depth, protects their balance and nurtures their potential. Because when human beings are placed at the centre—before skills, titles or expertise—a space is created in which authentic ideas and outstanding results can flourish.” 

The Strength of Reliability

“I remember my first days very clearly, and especially those that preceded them. After several experiences in other banks, in May 2000, at the age of forty-six, I began a new chapter with the Sella Group in Genoa. I was hired for a branch that did not even have desks in place yet. Nevertheless, in record time and with tremendous passion, we built a successful branch and began our journey with enthusiasm. The reasons I chose Sella were respect for customers, intellectual honesty and the ability to build relationships that endure over time. All of this creates genuine trust. One sentence spoken by Maurizio Sella has always stayed with me: ‘The children of our clients should become the clients of our children.’ For me, it remains a compass that guides my work every day. Over these twenty-five years, countless situations have left their mark—and there has never been a shortage of what I deliberately put in quotation marks as ‘fun’, leaving room for different interpretations. One word for Sella? Reliability. The ability to evolve, create value and innovate while remaining solid, dependable and worthy of trust.”