Jul 2, 2022
Del Vecchio Divided His Fortune Equally Among Eight Heirs
Bloomberg News
,(Bloomberg) -- Eyewear billionaire Leonardo Del Vecchio divided his fortune equally among his wife, his six children, and the son of his wife from a previous marriage, according to his will.
Each of the eight heirs are to receive 12.5% of the shares of Delfin Sarl, the financial holding company of Del Vecchio’s fortune, Delfin said in a statement on Saturday. The billionaire, who died on June 27 aged 87, left no further instructions about the governance of the company, according to the statement.
Rising from humble origins, Del Vecchio amassed the second-largest fortune in Italy -- after the chocolate-making Ferrero family -- with a net worth of $25.7 billion as of June 1, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
That includes a controlling 32% stake in EssilorLuxottica SA, formed from the 2018 merger of his Luxottica SpA with French lens maker Essilor, as well as stakes in Italian financial companies Mediobanca SpA, Assicurazioni Generali SpA and UniCredit SpA, and in the real-estate company Covivio SA.
Nicoletta Zampillo, who married Del Vecchio for a second time in 2010, was originally set to get a 25% stake in Delfin. The opening of the will showed that the stake was instead divided equally between Zampillo and her son from a previous marriage, Rocco Basilico. The six children Del Vecchio had with three different partners also each received 12.5%.
Delfin’s board will now meet to reflect the new shareholder structure, according to Saturday’s statement, and may possibly add external directors. Del Vecchio’s right-hand man, Francesco Milleri, also the chief executive officer of EssilorLuxottica, was widely expected to be given a leading role within Delfin. Milleri was appointed EssilorLuxottica chairman after the billionaire’s death.
Read More: Billionaire Del Vecchio Leaves Top Aide to Run His ‘Factory’
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