MILANO – Is dead Leonardo Del Vecchio. The founder of Luxottica and president of the Essiliux group was 87 years old. Del Vecchio, medical sources report to thebreaking latest newswas admitted to intensive care at the hospital San Raffaele of Milan for several weeks. The death would have been caused by pneumonia not linked to Covid.
Born in Milan in 1935 from a family of Apulian emigrants, he lived his childhood in orphanage in Milan. At work from a very young age, at just 26 he created Luxottica from scratch, starting from a small plot of land in Agordo, in the province of Belluno. The company then established itself over the years as the world giant of eyewear, until the merger with the giant of lenses Essilorin 2017, which gave birth to EssilorLuxottica.
Second richest man in Italy according to the ranking of Forbeshad been awarded Cavaliere del Lavoro in 1986. A leading figure on the Italian financial scene, Del Vecchio was also the main shareholder of Mediobanca, with a 19.4% stake.
From Luxottica to Generali, Del Vecchio’s legacy: Milleri towards the board of the safe to preserve companies and the entrepreneur’s will
of Sarah Bennewitz
The owner of Luxottica leaves behind six children. Claudio (at the head of the Brooks Brothers group), Marisa and Paola, born from the first marriage with Luciana Nervo; Leonardo Maria, with his second wife Nicoletta Zampillo, from whom Del Vecchio separated but then remarried; Luca and Clemente, born from the relationship with Sabina Grossi, former investor relator of the group.
EssilorLuxottica’s note: “Board of Directors will meet”
EssilorLuxottica “announces with deep sorrow the death of President Leonardo Del Vecchio”. The company, said a statement, “expresses its deepest condolences to the family and to the entire community of employees around the world for this huge loss. The Board will meet to determine the next steps”
Leonardo Del Vecchio’s mother (Luxottica) and the letter to the boarding school: “Don’t leave him on the street”
by Francesco Manacorda
Gentiloni: “A great Italian”
“Leonardo Del Vecchio was a great Italian. His story, from the orphanage to the leadership of an economic empire, seems like a story of other times. But he is an example for today and tomorrow. Rip”, wrote the commissioner in a tweet. European Economy, Paolo Gentiloni. An “extraordinary entrepreneur, capable of demonstrating how courage, vision, determination and ability can create successful companies in our country, starting from scratch, as happened in many cases immediately after the war”, the memory of Luca di Montezemolo, former president of Confindustria. “I hope that his personal story can be an example for young people who decide to try (and win) the challenge of business“, the hope of the Minister of Economic Development. Giancarlo Giorgetti.
Generali-Mediobanca, what happens in the cross-battle of Italian finance after the death of Del Vecchio
by Andrea Greco
Condolences also at the territorial level: for the president of Lombardy, Attilio Fontana, “He leaves us a great, very great entrepreneur: ‘the entrepreneur!”. While the Milanese mayor Beppe Sala he tweets that Milan loses one of the most emblematic figures of its recent history “and underlines that” the founding value of Milan is work and Leonardo del Vecchio spent his entire life there, right down to his last moment “.