Born in Turin on January 10, 1847, Ferdinando Maria Perrone, in 1873, enters into a relationship with the economist Luigi Luzzatti and carries out public and political activities. In March 1876 he married Cleonice Omati (1857 - 1935), they were born Pio (31 October 1876 - 16 January 1952) and Mario (1 January 1878 - 29 November 1968).

In 1884 he moved to Argentina where he established himself as an entrepreneur and representative of Ansaldo, a company of which he became the owner in 1904. Upon his death, which took place in Genoa on 9 June 1908, his children will continue their entrepreneurial activity. In particular, they will resume and develop their father's project of creating an autonomous Ansaldo both in the steel and armaments fields.

Through an intense process of vertical integration and thanks to the war situation, Ansaldo dei Perrone in 1918 reached its maximum expansion with a share capital of 500 million lire and employing about 80,000 employees distributed in dozens of factories and subsidiaries between which: A. Cerpelli & C., Banca Industriale Italiana, Cantieri Officine Savoia, Dynamite Nobel, Gio.Fossati & C., Lloyd Italico, Nazionale di Navigazione, Pomilio, Negri Hydroelectric Company, SPA, Italian Transatlantic. In 1921, with the resignation from Ansaldo, the Perrones ceased all commitment in the industrial field, continuing, above all, in the publishing business.

The Ansaldo Foundation keeps the Perrone Fund, donated on 22 May 2000, concerning both the family events and the entrepreneurial activities of Ferdinando Maria, Mario and Pio Perrone. The Fund was declared of considerable historical interest on 22/3/1982.