Del Vecchio, Leonardo
Leonardo Del Vecchio (1935 – 2022) was an Italian entrepreneur, founder and President of Luxottica and Executive President of EssilorLuxottica.
Biography
Leonardo Del Vecchio was born in Milan, but his family came from Trani. His father, Leonardo, died before he was born. So his mother, who wasn’t able to look after 5 children alone, sent him to the Martinitt boarding school at the age of 7. At the age of 14, Del Vecchio began working as an apprentice in a factory of moulds for automotive parts and eyeglass frames, as an engraver.
In 1958, in Agordo, in the province of Belluno, he started his own business: he opened a workshop where he continued to deal with eyewear. After just three years, the workshop became Luxottica S.a.s. The name of the brand was the combination of the words “light” and “optics”.
Luxottica
In the early years, the company was specialized in the production of accessories and components for companies in the optical sector. In 1967 the entrepreneur decided to enter the national market while continuing to work as a contractor. Then, in 1971, Del Vecchio began producing only finished glasses and expanded the range of processes to manage the entire production process. The first Luxottica collection was presented at the International Optics Exhibition in Milan, consecrating the brand on the market for all intents and purposes.
At the end of the ’80s the licenses began: the first was the one signed with Giorgio Armani, followed by the ones with Vogue Eyewear, Brooks Brothers, Bulgari and Chanel, which were accompanied by acquisitions, such as the one of Persol, in 1995, and the one of Ray-Ban.
In the ’90s Luxottica was listed in the New York Stock Exchange, while in the 2000s it was listed in the Milan Stock Exchange. In 2003 he joined the Board of Directors of Gianni Versace S.p.A. after having signed, in the previous months, a ten-year license agreement for the design and production of Versace and Versus eyewear.
Awards and accolades
During his career, Del Vecchio gained important awards, among which the appointment of Order of Merit for Labour, obtained in 1986. In 1995 the entrepreneur received an honorary degree in Business Administration at the Ca’ Foscari University in Venice. Four years later, in 1999, he was awarded an honorary MBA in International Business from the MIB School of Management of Trieste. The entrepreneur received other honorary degrees: in 2002 and 2006, respectively, from the University of Udine, in Management Engineering, and from the Milan Polytechnic, in Materials Engineering.
In 2007 he received the honorary citizenship of Agordo and in 2012 the CUOA Foundation awarded him a honorary Master in Business Administration. Then, in 2013, he received the Ambrogino d’Oro medal from the Commission of Civic Merits of the Municipality of Milan.
EssilorLuxottica
In March 2018, the European Commission approved the merger between Luxottica and Essilor, the French multinational corporation producing optical equipment, founded in Paris in 1972. After the announcement, the company founded by Del Vecchio closed its session in Milan Stock Exchange with a + 5% increase.
After the merger, the company EssilorLuxottica was founded. Since May 2021 Francesco Milleri has been the only CEO: he was strongly desired by Del Vecchio after the forfeiture of the governance which assigned equal powers to the founder shareholders.
The Italian entrepreneur was flanked by Executive Directors Paul du Saillant, deputy CEO, Romolo Bardin, custodian of Delfin, and Juliette Favre. Among the independents, Cristina Scocchia, CEO of Kiko, was confirmed.
According to the Forbes report, in 2021 Del Vecchio was the richest man in Italy, with a 35.1 billion dollars fortune.
On 22th June 2022 the entrepreneur died, at the age of 87. He left his fortune to 8 heirs: his 6 children Claudio, Paola, Luca, Marisa, Leonardo Maria and Clemente, his wife Nicoletta Zampillo and her first-marriage son Rocco Basilico. His last will wasn’t immediately accomplished because of disagreements between the heirs, probably due to the mention, in his testament, of Francesco Milleri and Romolo Bardin, whom he left to less than 1 % of his fortune.
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