Guido Barbieri was born in Milan on 12 June 1966. In 1990 he graduated with honours in economics at Bocconi University, Milan, where he collaborated on a research project about media groups in Europe. He began his career in 1991 in Fininvest  in the Group Planning and Control Department. In 1995, he moved to Mediaset as Consolidated Financial Statements / Budget and Reporting Manager.

In 1997, he was also put in charge of the M&A function. In 2000, he was appointed Deputy General Manager of Mediatrade (the company operating in the purchase and sale of rights and the production of fiction content), becoming in 2022 General Manager and Chairman of the Board of Directors. From 2003 to 2011, he was General Manager of the Rights Division of RTI and in 2007 was also put in charge of the Sports Rights area. In 2011 he was Project Manager for the EI Towers/DMT merger.

He has been EI Towers CEO since late 2011 and he is the Chairman of EIT Radio, a EI Towers Group company.