Fiat chairman Umberto Agnelli dies of cancer

Fiat Chairman Umberto Agnelli, who helped lead his family’s vast Turin-based carmaker out of hard times and into better financial shape, has died of cancer little more than a year after taking the company’s top position, a Fiat spokesman said. He was 69.

He died late yesterday, Fiat spokesman Raffaello Porro said today. The company acknowledged that Agnelli was undergoing serious treatment for cancer last month.