If you have an image in your mind of a fearsome corporate raider, chances are Romain Zaleski doesn't fit it. Visit the Frenchman at his compact suburban townhouse near Milan's Linate Airport, and he'll amble down to the driveway to greet you and then introduce you to his big, too-friendly dog named Elliot. There's a makeshift office in the basement from which Zaleski, 68, keeps in touch with the business manager of his closely-held steel company, Carlo Tassara, based in the northern Italian town of Breno. He holds meetings on his sunporch overlooking the little back garden. It's pretty much...
