Leonardo Del Vecchio (born 22 May 1935) is an Italian businessman, founder and chairman of Luxottica Group. The group is the world’s largest producer and seller of glasses and lenses, with a total of 77,734 employees and over 7,000 stores. According to Forbes magazine, he is the second richest man in Italy with a net worth of $17.9 billion, making him the 37th richest person in the world.
Life and career
Del Vecchio was born in 1935 in Milan, Italy, to an impoverished family. His father died five months prior to his birth. He was given to an orphanage by his mother because she was unable to support him financially. He began his career as an apprentice to a tool and die maker in Milan, but decided to turn his metalworking skills to make spectacle parts. So in 1961 he moved to Agordo in the province of Belluno, which is home to most of the Italian eyewear industry. The new company was Luxottica s.a.s., a limited partnership. In 1967 he started selling complete eyeglass frames under the Luxottica brand, which proved successful enough that by 1971 he entered the contract manufacturing business.
Convinced of the need for vertical integration, in 1974 he acquired Scarrone, a distribution company. In 1981 the company set up its first international subsidiary, in Germany, the first in a rapid period of international expansion. The first of many licensing deals with designers was struck with Armani in 1988.
The company listed in New York in 1990, and in Milan in December 2000, joining the MIB-30 (now S&P/MIB) index in September 2003. The listing enhanced the company’s ability to acquire other brands, starting with Italian brand Vogue in 1990, Persol and US Shoe Corporation (LensCrafters) in 1995, Ray-Ban in 1999 and Sunglass Hut, Inc. in 2001. They went looking for more retail companies, acquiring Sydney-based OPSM in 2003, Pearle Vision in 2004, Surfeyes in 2006, and Cole National in 2004. Most recently, they acquired Oakley in a US$2.1bn deal in November 2007.
Leonardo Del Vecchio is an Italian businessman. Leonardo ranks among the richest men in the world with an estimated net worth of $24.1 billion in September 2018. In fact, he is the second richest person from Italy and ranks 74th in the Forbes billionaire list as of March 2012. His net worth has increased by an impressive $500 million since March 2011 because of an increase in the share prices of his company.
Del Vecchio is best known for being the chairman and founder of Luxottica, a company that is currently the world’s largest manufacturer and retailer of prescription glasses and sunglasses. It was however not good always for Leonardo. In fact, he was born in an impoverished family. His dad died five months before he was born. The mom could not afford a child, and thus, gave him away to an orphanage. Leonardo started off as an apprentice with a dye maker in Milan, Italy. Soon however, he was making spectacle parts. He moved to Agordo in Belluno, because the Italian eyewear industry was located here. It was here that he formed the company Luxottica. He started selling eyeglass frames in 1967, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Luxottica now owns and operates more than 6000 stores around the world. Over the years, the company has acquired several brands once the company was listed in the New York and the Milan stock exchanges. He owns chains like the LensCrafters and Sunglass Hut and brands like Oakley and Ray-Ban. Claudio, the son of Leonardo owns the American retailer for men, Brooks Brothers.
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