John Elkann was born on April 1, 1976 in New York, New York, USA. He has been married to Lavinia Borromeo since September 4, 2004. They have three children.
His parents married in 1975 but divorced in 1981. Both of them remarried.
His mother married Serge de Pahlen with whom she had 5 children who are John's younger half-siblings: Pietro, Sofia, Anna, Maria and Tatiana de Pahlen.
He was born in the US, then moved to the UK, Brazil, France and Italy. As a result of his international upbringing, he is fluent in four languages.