Pasquale Natuzzi was born in Matera, lives in Santeramo, is married and has 5 children. The son of a cabinet maker, at the age of 19 he opened a workshop in Taranto. In 1962 he moved to Matera, where in 1967 he started to produce sofas on an industrial level. In 1972 he founded Natuzzi Salotti S.r.l., and one year later, after a fire completely destroyed his factory, he transferred the business to Santeramo in Colle (Bari, Italy), where the Group still has its headquarters. In the 1980s, during a trip in the USA, Pasquale Natuzzi saw the opportunity to bring leather sofas "to the masses", and in 1985 founded Natuzzi Upholstery Inc., based in New York. Success in the United States, confirmed by the listing on Wall Street in May 1993, was a springboard for Natuzzi to conquer other markets. 1998 saw the opening in High Point, North Carolina, of Natuzzi Americas' headquarters. The building was designed by Mario Bellini.
While continuing its expansion in the North American market, the Group strengthened its presence in Europe and in Italy, where the first Divani & Divani by Natuzzi store was opened in the 1990s.
His passion and dedication to the company's growth was recognized with an honorary degree in Education Sciences awarded in December 2001 by the University of Bari. In 2008 Pasquale Natuzzi was inducted in the American Furniture Hall of Fame, becoming the first non-American to receive this recognition.
