Luxottica founder Leonardo Del Vecchio died at the age of 87 at the San Raffaele in Milan . Del Vecchio was one of the richest men in Italy: in addition to being the founder and president of Luxottica, he was executive president of EssilorLuxottica, the largest holding company producing and selling glasses and lenses in the world, which has about 80,000 employees and over 9,000 stores in 150 Countries, for approximately 91 million eyewear produced in 2019. Cavaliere del Lavoro since 1986, was also the major shareholder of Mediobanca as well as Generali. Forbes estimated his wealth as of April 10, 2022, was approximately 27.3 billion dollars: mind-boggling figures that made him the second richest man in Italy, and the 62nd in the world.
The rise and the biographical notes:
Born in 1935 in Milan to parents who emigrated from Puglia, the youngest of four brothers, Del Vecchio lived as a child in the Martinitt orphanage: «I grew up without a father and in an institution. Growing up without a family is something that cannot be explained if one has not lived it. It marks you, ”he recalled a few years ago. Later he moved to Agordo, in the province of Belluno, where the mountain community had offered land to those who had started a company in the area. At the age of 26, Luxottica’s adventure began, first as a subcontractor and then as a manufacturer of finished eyewear. In 1969 he became the sole owner of the company. In 2017 came the € 50 billion mergers between Luxottica and Essilor.
His father Leonardo, of Apulian origins, died shortly before his birth, and his mother chose to give him the same name. Then he is entrusted to the college of Martinitt, where he remains until the end of middle school, and then goes to work as a boy in a factory producing medals and cups. After evening courses at the Brera Academy, at the age of 22, he moved to a town in Trentino where he works as a worker. In 1958 he then moved to Agordo, in the province of Belluno, to open a shop of eyeglass frames. After three years, in 1961, he transformed it into Luxottica, with fourteen employees. From there they grew to become one of the major entrepreneurs in the country and Europe.
Amelia Warner
Amelia Warner writes all the Latest Articles. She mostly covers Entertainment topics, but at times loves to write about movie reviews as well.
