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Italian entrepreneur Leonardo Del Vecchio passed away on June 27 at the age of 87. He was the executive chairman of EssilorLuxottica, who announced the news of his passing and stated that the board will soon have a meeting to decide what to do next.
A few sources say that his six children might become billionaires if were to inherit and start owning his company Delfin and its assets.
Leonardo Del Vecchio’s net worth explored
Leonardo Del Vecchio gained recognition as the founder and chairman of the eyewear industry, Luxottica, with around 77,734 employees and 8,000 stores.
According to CelebrityNetWorth, Del Vecchio’s net worth was estimated to be around $33 billion. Given that he was a billionaire, he accumulated a lot of wealth from different ventures.
Luxottica became popular in 1990 and raised a lot of money from its stock listing. It has purchased and acquired several brands like Vogue Eyewear, Sunglass Hut, Pearle Vision, Cole National, and others.
Their biggest acquisition took place in 2007 when they purchased Oakley for $2.1 billion, but the brand was later dropped from their stores.
Del Vecchio had majority ownership at Luxottica with a share of 61.9%. He also owned 28% of real estate investment company Covivio, 10% of investment bank Mediobanca, and 31.7% of the insurance company, Assicurazioni Generali.
Everything known about Leonardo Del Vecchio
On May 22, 1935, Leonardo Del Vecchio was born into a poor family. His father used to sell vegetables and died before his birth. His mother had four children and all of them were raised in an orphanage. His first job was as an apprentice to a tool and die maker where he learned a few skills and used them to make spectacle parts.
He moved to Agordo in 1961, which was the home of the Italian eyewear industry. He began selling spectacle frames under Luxottica in 1967 and joined the manufacturing business in 1971. He then took over a distribution company, Scarrone, in 1974, which set up its first international subsidiary in Germany in 1981.
Leonardo then settled a licensing deal with designer Giorgio Armani in 1988. The company was listed in New York in 1990 and Milan in 2000, eventually joining the MIB-30 index in 2003.
The listing increased its ability to acquire other brands, which began with Vogue as it continued to expand to several other famous brands. They then acquired more companies like OPSM, Pearle Vision, Surfeyes, Cole National, and others.
Del Vecchio is survived by his wife Nicoletta Zampillo and six children – Claudio, Marisa, Paola, Leonardo, Luca, and Clemente. He was married thrice and the identities of his wives remain unknown.
