Delfin, a Luxembourg company, is Leonardo Del Vecchio’s ‘family safe’, through which he managed his business starting from 32% of Essilor Luxottica on which. The entrepreneur had 25% of the shares – with the usufruct and the right to vote on the remaining 75% of the capital – which should now go, in the succession, to his wife Nicoletta Zampillo, while 75% should be shared among the children, 12.5% to each.
But the decisions will have to be shared: the statute of the financial company provides that every decision is made with an 88% majority, which requires an agreement between his wife and son Leonardo Maria, the children of the first marriage Claudio, Marisa and Paola, those received from the Compagna Luca and Clemente. With the 2021 corporate change, Del Vecchio had enlarged the Board of Directors to 5 members: in addition to him, Mario Notari, Romolo Bardin, Aloyse May and Giovanni Giallombardo. Now, Francesco Milleri, historical right-hand man, today CEO of Essilor Luxottica, should enter the place of the entrepreneur.
“Mr. Leonardo Del Vecchio will automatically be replaced with the person previously designated by him in a written declaration addressed to the board of directors”, reads the statute. In short: whether Milleri will be the successor is already written in Del Vecchio’s documents.
Delfin managers are ‘for life’, with no possibility of removal by the shareholders: unless resigned or otherwise provided, even the new entry will be for an indefinite period and must be considered for an indefinite period (and therefore without expiry). It is this board that is responsible for making the decisions, including those relating to the governance of Essilor Luxottica and other equity investments, such as Mediobanca and Generali. The Statute also provides that a portion of the profits will be allocated to the Del Vecchio foundation, and the rest distributed in the form of a dividend.