After studying at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales and Università di Bocconi, he made his signature name writing for Città Futura (1976-79) and Rinascita (1979-82); later he was deputy editor of Il Sole 24 Ore. A journalist for Il Corriere della Sera since 2021, he was previously a columnist and correspondent for La Repubblica, reporting from Brussels, San Francisco and Beijing from 1997 to 2021. In 2009 he transferred to New York and reported on America in its economic, social and lifestyle aspects.

Awards include the Luigi Barzini Prize (2005) and the Saint-Vincent Prize (2006).

He has published numerous books for Mondadori, including Quando inizia la nostra storia [When Our History Begins] (2018), La seconda Guerra fredda [The Second Cold War] (2019), I cantieri della storia [The Yards of History] (2020), Fermare Pechino. Capire la Cina per salvare l’Occidente [Stopping Beijing: Understanding China to Save the West] (2021), Suicidio occidentale. Perché è sbagliato processare la nostra storia e cancellare i nostri valori [Western Suicide: Why It Is Wrong to Process our History and Erase our Values] (2022), Il lungo inverno. False apocalissi, vere crisi ma non ci salverà lo Stato [The long winter. False apocalypses, real crises but the State will not save us] (2022) and La speranza africana [African hope] (2023). In 2022, he published with Solferino America. Viaggio alla riscoperta di un Paese [America. Journey to the Rediscovery of a Country].