Richest Italian died: glasses billionaire Del Vecchio is dead

Italian entrepreneur Leonardo Del Vecchio has died at the age of 87. With the Luxottica group he founded, he built up a global eyewear empire and became the richest man in Italy.

Leonardo Del Vecchio was the richest man in Italy. According to the “Forbes” list, his fortune at the beginning of this year was 27.4 billion euros. Del Vecchio was one of his country’s most successful entrepreneurs in recent decades. He was often referred to in the media as the “glasses king” – because of the success of the company Luxottica, which he founded.

Del Vecchio, who spent part of his childhood in an orphanage, founded Luxottica in 1961 and turned it into a globally successful eyewear empire, also through acquisitions. Luxottica included the brands Persol, Ray-Ban, Oakley and Bausch & Lomb, but also eyewear from fashion brands such as Armani, Bulgari, Chanel and Prada. Four years ago, Del Vecchio led his company into a merger with French optics entrepreneur Essilor and became chairman of the new group’s board of directors.

Major player in Italy’s economy

Until the very end, Del Vecchio was a defining figure, especially in the Italian economy. Here he owned 1.9 percent of Unicredit, the parent company of Hypovereinsbank. Last year, Del Vecchio was instrumental in preventing Unicredit from a government-sponsored takeover of ailing bank Monte dei Paschi. In the spring, Del Vecchio also played a central role in the power struggle within the insurance group Generali, in which he also owned shares.

According to Italian media reports, Del Vecchio died in a Milan hospital. The 87-year-old had been in intensive care there for several weeks because of pneumonia. Hospital circles emphasize that Del Vecchio’s lung problems are not the result of Covid disease. EU Economic Commissioner Gentiloni spoke of a great loss in response to the death report. Del Vecchio was a great Italian.