Take some fast cars, mix in the worlds of fashion, sport and Italian royalty - all leading to unfathomable wealth, power and political influence - and you have the Agnelli family.
Dubbed the Kennedys of Italy, they control some of the best known car brands in the world. They've seen moments of huge success, followed by points where the business empire was on the verge of collapse - only for its fortunes to rebound.
And now you have families - siblings and mothers and children - turning on each other in a bitter succession row, with accusations of criminal activity, claims of gold bars and fine art hidden in Switzerland, and a fake kidnapping thrown in for good measure.
If Ireland's Guinness family can have a streaming show made about them, you’d imagine it’s only a matter of time until the story of the Agnellis is dramatised too.
Where does the Agnelli dynasty begin?
Fiat is the cornerstone of the Agnelli empire – though the brand is probably not the most important part of its business nowadays.
Founded in 1899 as Fabbrica Italiana Automobil Torino - or the Italian Automobile Factory of Turin – it is now one of the oldest surviving car brands in the world.
And the main force behind its creation was Giovanni Agnelli – who was the son of entrepreneur and politician Edoardo Agnelli and noblewoman and philanthropist Aniceta Frisetti.
He guided the company to quite quickly become a hugely significant business in Europe and the world.
By the end of World War I it was one of the biggest manufacturers in Italy, and globally it was one of the biggest car producers too. It established a factory in the US in 1910; and it would have been seen as a premium brand there for a time.
In later years it would set up manufacturing facilities across Europe – including two assembly plants in Dublin; the first one in Chapelizod and then a second plant in Ballyfermot. It even partnered with the Soviet Union to establish that state as a player in the world of car-making. The infamous Lada was actually, initially, based on the Fiat 124.
And during both world wars, Fiat factories in Italy and abroad would have been converted into weapons manufacturers - including World War II, when they made tanks and fighter planes for Mussolini.
Agnelli had known Mussolini since the early 20th century and was made a senator for the National Fascist Party in 1923. But while he was sympathetic to his politics, he grew to dislike him over time and tried to distance his businesses from the fascist leader.
That actually led to Mussolini warning about the "serious and absurd danger" that Fiat might see itself as being as important to Italy as the church and the government - which probably tells you a little about just how big the company was in Italy at that time.
But the company is not just Fiat, is it?
No - it began to become much more than that from the 1960s onwards.
After World War II Giovanni Agnelli was actually ousted from Fiat due to his ties to the fascist regime - but his grandson, also Giovanni but known as Gianni, eventually regained control for the family in the 1960s.
And he quite quickly turned Fiat into a conglomerate - making everything from typewriters to electronics. Fiat was also key in the formation of Italy’s national airline, Alitalia, and its first flight was a Fiat-made plane.
But crucially he sparked an acquisition spree of other car brands, starting with Autobianca, or Lancia as it would become in the 1960s. Fiat bought up half of Ferrari at the end of that decade, and eventually grew that to 90% after Enzo Ferrari died. It also bought Alfa Romeo in the ‘80s, then Maserati in the 90s.
And that acquisitive habit has continued through to the recent past - with it taking full control of the Chrysler Group just over a decade ago. That means it also owns Dodge, Jeep, Ram and, of course Chrysler now too.
And Peugeot, Opel and Citroen are now also part of the same group, which is known as Stellantis. The Agnelli’s have a 14.2% stake in the group, making them the biggest shareholders, and giving them massive sway.
But they also have interests beyond cars through their holding companies Exor and Dicembre. That also owns Juventus Football Club, it has a sizeable share in The Economist Group, Christian Louboutin and Dutch healthcare firm Philips amongst other firms.
Not to mention a huge amount of cash, and rare art by Picasso, Monet and Francis Bacon.
At one stage the assets controlled by Gianni reportedly represented 8% of Italy’s GDP.
So where does the succession row start?
The family’s fifth generation are now at the helm, and there’s an estimated 200 people in the modern clan – so it’s fair to say things have not always been peaceful.
But whatever low-key squabbles there were before, they spilled over very publicly around 22 years ago, following the death of Gianni Agnelli.
He had named his grandson John Elkann as his successor – and before he died gave him a 25% stake in Dicembre.
Then, in his will, he left his widow Marella and his daughter Margherita each a 37.5% stake in the business.
But at the time the company was in pretty bad shape – and its future was in serious doubt. So in 2004, Margherita decided to cash out.
She received €1.2 billion to transferring her stake in the business to her mother, Marella, who then took her enlarged stake and passed it on to her grandchildren.
Lapo and Ginevra Elkann – also Margherita’s children - both got 20% of the company while John then got the remainder of Marella’s stake over time.
If you do the maths, you’ll see he eventually got a 35% stake from his grandmother – on top of the 25% he already got from his grandfather, that gave him a majority stake in the business.
But very soon after agreeing to sell her stake, Margherita had a change of heart – and has been locked in various legal battles ever since to try and reverse the deal, and take back the shares she briefly held.
If Margherita sold her stake in 2004 – and got a lot of money for it – what’s her argument for undoing that deal now?
Her claim is that, at the time, she did not know the extent of the company’s holdings – and so the price she agreed to wasn’t a fair reflection of what Dicembre was worth.
She has alleged that there were multiple rare paintings held off the books, and that the group had gold hidden away in Switzerland. The claim is that at least some of this is the money they received from Mussolini for all of the planes and tanks they built in the war.
She says that what she’s looking to do is protect the interest of her other children - she has five more children with her second husband, who have absolutely no connection to the Agnellis or stake in Dicembre.
And in her fight she has made multiple accusations against her mother and her son - for example claiming that Marella falsely claimed to be resident in Switzerland to avoid being taxed in Italy and that John had assisted her in that.
That led to raids on Elkann’s home and office.
Marella died in 2019 and Margherita has also tried to have her will - which excluded Margherita as part of the 2004 agreement - invalidated.
Of course, if she were successful and reclaimed her stake in the business, it would have huge implications for Dicembre and the Agnellis.
It would dramatically reduce the stakes held by her three children, and deprive John Elkann of his majority interest.
But representatives for Elkann and the wider Agnelli family say what’s actually going on here is a bit of buyer’s - or in this case seller’s - remorse.
The company was on its knees when Margherita sold up in 2004 - but since taking control John Elkann has done a remarkable job at turning things around.
The group had assets worth €1.2 billion when Gianni died in 2003 - as of the end of last year its assets were worth more than €38 billion.
The stake Margherita held - which she sold for €1.2 billion - is now estimated to be worth upwards of €5 billion,though the company’s market capitalisation would suggest a figure closer to €7 billion.
What about the 'kidnapping'?
This relates to one of the three Elkanns – Lapo – who has always been the playboy of the family.
He has a stake in Dicembre and sits on the board of Ferrari, but his real passion is the eyewear business that he set up in 2007.
In 2016 he posted in Instagram that he was going abroad to pursue "a lot of projects … a lot of new ideas" and would meet "many very interesting characters" while doing so.
But days later he called his family claiming that he had been kidnapped by a sex worker, who wanted $10,000 in order to guarantee his safety.
But when he was found by police in Manhattan, it was discovered that he had completely made up the story after running out of money following a two-day binge.
Charges against Lapo alleging he made a false claim were later dropped, although it’s not clear why. At the time he said reports about the incident had been "false news".
So where does the row between Margherita stand now?
Despite rumbling on for roughly 20 years now, there doesn’t seem to be any end in sight. But in saying that, there have been some big developments in recent weeks.
Earlier this month, the Elkann siblings agreed to pay a joint €183m to Italian tax authorities relating to Marella’s estate.
John Elkann also agreed to a year of community service as part of the deal, which brings the criminal investigation into tax evasion to an end.
The agreement still has to be ratified by a judge, but it doesn’t include or imply an admission of guilt, so it may not be of much help to Margherita’s claim that the family were not above board in their handling of her share sale.
Her case also hinges on the argument that it all should have been dealt with by Italian rather than Swiss authorities, and she doesn’t appear any closer to a breakthrough on that front.
But the tax investigation has thrown up another twist in the story - which only became public this week.
Margherita has claimed a handwritten note - claimed to be written by Gianni - was discovered in the searches connected to the tax case. And it says that Gianni wanted to give 25% of the company to his son - Margherita’s brother - Edoardo, rather than his grandson John.
It’s said to have been written in 1998 to alter the will he had drawn up in 1996, which is the will that was ultimately acted upon after his death.
And because Edoardo died in 2000, and didn’t have any children, Margherita claims that the 25% stake that was meant for him should have gone to her. That, combined with the stake that was laid out in the will for her, would give her rather than John a majority stake in the company,.
Needless to say Elkann’s lawyers have disputed this latest claim, and say it still doesn’t change the fact that Margherita sold out of the business in 2004.
But it may be many more years before there is a legally-binding conclusion to the row.
