Born in Italy, he left Italy for the US in 1939 because of his Jewish background and antifascist views.
Modigliani, along with Merton Miller, formulated the important Modigliani-Miller theorem in corporate finance.
This demonstrated that under certain assumptions, the value of a firm is not affected by whether it is financed by equity (selling shares) or debt (borrowing money).
He was also the originator of the life-cycle hypothesis, which attempts to explain the level of saving in the economy.
Modigliani proposed that consumers would aim for a stable level of income throughout their lifetime, for example by saving during their working years and spending during their retirement.
