MILAN (Reuters) – Leonardo Del Vecchio, Italian billionaire and chairman of the board of French-Italian eyewear maker EssilorLuxottica, has died aged 87, Italian media reported on Monday.
EssilorLuxottica confirmed the death of its chairman in a statement, adding that the board of directors would meet to decide on the next steps.
After a childhood spent in an orphanage, Leonardo Del Vecchio amassed a fortune in the tens of billions of euros in one of Italy’s most famous post-war enrichment stories.
The businessman founded Luxottica in 1961, the company that owns the Ray-Ban brand, and merged with French Essilor in 2018.
His influence extended beyond his own business. Its Delfin holding company is the main shareholder of the Italian bank Mediobanca and holds a stake of just under 10% in the Italian insurer Generali.
(Report Claudia Cristoferi, written by Giulia Segreti, French version Elena Vardon, edited by Kate Entringer)
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