If there were a corporate dealmaker hall of fame, Paolo Fresco would surely be in it.

As chairman of Fiat SpA from 1998 to last year, he led a string of transactions, including the purchase of U.S. farm and construction equipment group Case Corp. for $4.3 billion and the sale of a 20% stake in Fiat's auto unit (since diluted to 10%) to General Motors. Before Fiat, Fresco rose to vice chairman at General Electric, and as GE's international point man helped broker a series of mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures, including the acquisition of Hungarian lighting company Tungsram in 1989 and that of Italian turbine group Nuova Pignone in 1993. Not everyone applauded his diversification strategy at Fiat, but there's no denying the many bellwether deals on his long resume.

And it seems that Fresco, now 70, isn't ready to leave the field just yet.

In February Credit Suisse First Boston announced he would be joining the firm as a senior adviser. He'll work with top CSFB executives and the investment banking management team to provide strategic counsel to clients. - Heather O'Brian

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