From a small factory created in 1961 in the Venice region, Leonardo Del Vecchio founded an empire, which today controls world giants such as Ray Ban either Sun Glass Hutand manufactures products that are sold under the brand names Chanel, Prada either versace.
Until the end, who started working from adolescence, defended his vision of Italian capitalism: “We must begin to tear down walls and create national champions, then European, to compete on an equal footing with the international giants” he said in one of his latest interviews.
The businessman suffered from pneumonia and had been in the San Raffaele hospital in Milan for several weeks, according to Italian agencies.
“Del Vecchio was a great Italian” reacted the head of government Mario Draghi. “A figurehead of Italian business for more than 60 years, Del Vecchio built one of the country’s largest companies from modest beginnings.”
In 2018, the billionaire realized his dream: to give birth to a world giant of optics by merging its Luxottica group with the French Essilor.
The group is today an optical giant, listed on the Paris stock exchange. It has 180,000 employees worldwide, and in 2021 made a net profit of 1.4 billion euros (1.485 million dollars at current exchange rates), with a turnover of 17.8 billion euros.
Thanks to the success of his group, Del Vecchio — white-haired and always smartly dressed — was Italy’s second fortune, with his holding company Delfin based in Luxembourg.
The wealth of this father of six children, born to three different mothers, was estimated in April by Forbes magazine at 27.3 billion dollars.