What is Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio’s Net Worth?
Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio is an Italian billionaire businessman and investor who has a net worth of $5.5 billion.
Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio is one of the heirs to the fortune created by his father, Leonardo Del Vecchio, the founder of eyewear giant Luxottica. After his father’s death in 2022, Leonardo Maria inherited a 12.5% interest in Delfin, the family’s Luxembourg holding company. Delfin’s largest asset is a stake of more than 32% in EssilorLuxottica, the parent company of Ray-Ban, Oakley, LensCrafters, Sunglass Hut, Persol, and numerous other eyewear businesses. Delfin also holds multibillion-dollar investments in some of Europe’s largest banks, insurers, and real estate companies.
Unlike several of his fellow heirs, Leonardo Maria built an operating career inside the family business. He served as CEO of Salmoiraghi & Viganò, rose to become Chief Strategy Officer of EssilorLuxottica and president of Ray-Ban, and helped push the iconic sunglasses company deeper into fashion and wearable technology before resigning from his EssilorLuxottica positions in August 2026.
Outside the family empire, Del Vecchio founded LMDV Capital, which has invested hundreds of millions of euros across hospitality, food and beverage, media, healthcare, technology, entertainment, and real estate. Its investments have included Acqua Fiuggi, Twiga, Boem, Leone Film Group, and a growing portfolio of Italian newspapers.
Early Life
Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio was born on May 6, 1995, in Milan, Italy. He is the only child of Leonardo Del Vecchio and Nicoletta Zampillo.
His father had five other children from other relationships: Claudio, Marisa, Paola, Luca, and Clemente. Leonardo Maria also grew up with his mother’s son from a previous relationship, Rocco Basilico, who later worked within the EssilorLuxottica organization.
Leonardo Maria was exposed to Luxottica from childhood. He has recalled visiting the company’s operations in Agordo, the northern Italian town where his father built the business, and watching generations of families work together inside the company.
He studied Business Economics and Management at Bocconi University in Milan and also spent time in the United States and the United Kingdom. While still studying, he gained experience inside the family business before joining Luxottica full-time.
Luxottica Career
Del Vecchio formally joined Luxottica in 2017, initially working with the wholesale team serving Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
He subsequently moved into retail operations and became involved with Salmoiraghi & Viganò, the historic Italian optical chain that Luxottica had acquired. He also worked on the rollout of standalone Ray-Ban stores in Italy.
Del Vecchio eventually became CEO of Salmoiraghi & Viganò and later assumed broader responsibility for Luxottica’s Italian retail business. His portfolio included brands and chains such as Salmoiraghi & Viganò and Sunglass Hut as well as stores devoted to Ray-Ban, Persol, and Oliver Peoples.
In 2019, Del Vecchio joined the board of Luxottica Group. His rise coincided with the integration of Luxottica and French lens manufacturer Essilor into EssilorLuxottica, which became the world’s dominant eyewear company.
EssilorLuxottica and Ray-Ban
Del Vecchio eventually became Chief Strategy Officer of EssilorLuxottica and president of Ray-Ban.
Ray-Ban held particular significance within his family’s history. Luxottica acquired the once-struggling American sunglasses brand in 1999 for $640 million and transformed it into one of the world’s most recognizable fashion brands.
During Del Vecchio’s tenure as president, Ray-Ban continued expanding beyond conventional eyewear. EssilorLuxottica partnered with Meta on Ray-Ban smart glasses, combining cameras, speakers, microphones, and artificial intelligence features with familiar Ray-Ban frames.
Del Vecchio also sought to strengthen the brand’s position within fashion and popular culture. In February 2025, rapper A$AP Rocky was named Ray-Ban’s first-ever creative director.
By the middle of the 2020s, Del Vecchio had become the most prominent of his father’s children inside EssilorLuxottica’s operating business.
(Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
Leaving EssilorLuxottica
In August 2026, Del Vecchio announced that he was resigning from all of his management positions at EssilorLuxottica, including his roles as Chief Strategy Officer and president of Ray-Ban.
His departure followed increasing disagreements with Chairman and CEO Francesco Milleri, one of his father’s closest longtime executives. Del Vecchio said in his resignation letter that he no longer wanted to represent strategies and a management culture with which he disagreed.
The resignation took effect at the end of August 2026.
Del Vecchio did not sell his family’s ownership interest in the company. He remained one of the eight equal shareholders of Delfin, EssilorLuxottica’s largest shareholder, and continued to argue for changes in the governance and direction of the family holding company.
Inheritance and Delfin
Leonardo Del Vecchio died in June 2022 with a fortune that made him one of the richest people in Europe.
Rather than leave control to a single successor, he divided ownership of his Luxembourg holding company, Delfin, equally among eight heirs. Each inherited 12.5%.
The eight beneficiaries were his six children, his widow Nicoletta Zampillo, and Zampillo’s son Rocco Basilico.
Delfin is much more than a vehicle for the family’s EssilorLuxottica investment. The holding company owns more than 32% of EssilorLuxottica and has also accumulated major positions in Italian insurer Generali, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, UniCredit, and European real estate company Covivio.
By 2026, Delfin’s net assets were valued at more than €50 billion. A 12.5% economic interest therefore represents several billion dollars of underlying assets, though an individual heir’s stake deserves a discount for taxes, holding-company structure, restrictions on transfers, and the lack of direct control over the portfolio.
This inherited Delfin stake accounts for the overwhelming majority of Leonardo Maria’s personal net worth.
The €10 Billion Delfin Buyout Attempt
The equal division of Delfin created an unusual governance problem. With eight shareholders owning identical stakes and strict approval requirements for major decisions, disagreements among the heirs could prevent the holding company from taking action.
Leonardo Maria attempted to break that deadlock by dramatically increasing his ownership.
In early 2026, he began pursuing the 12.5% stakes held by his half-siblings Luca and Paola Del Vecchio. The combined 25% interest had an underlying value estimated at €14 billion, though negotiations contemplated a lower purchase price because of the shares’ restrictions and lack of liquidity.
In April 2026, family shareholders approved a proposed transaction under which Leonardo Maria would pay about €10 billion for the two stakes. Had the transaction closed, his Delfin ownership would have tripled from 12.5% to 37.5%, making him by far the holding company’s largest individual shareholder.
The acquisition was designed as an enormous leveraged transaction requiring billions of euros of outside financing. Banks and private-credit firms were approached to help finance the purchase.
Legal disputes among the heirs and financing complications ultimately prevented the transaction from closing. Leonardo Maria therefore remained the owner of his original 12.5% Delfin stake rather than the proposed 37.5%.
LMDV Capital
Del Vecchio began building an investment empire independent of his inheritance through LMDV Capital, the family office he founded in 2022.
Rather than concentrate solely on eyewear, LMDV has invested across hospitality, restaurants, beverages, media, entertainment, technology, healthcare, manufacturing, and real estate.
By mid-2025, the company had deployed more than €375 million across its portfolio. Del Vecchio later reorganized the firm’s management structure and became executive chairman of LMDV Capital.
The strategy has generally focused on Italian businesses and brands that Del Vecchio believes can be expanded internationally.
Acqua Fiuggi
One of LMDV’s largest early investments was Acqua e Terme di Fiuggi, the historic Italian mineral-water and spa company.
LMDV acquired a 72.5% interest in the business in 2024. The investment gave Del Vecchio control of a brand with origins stretching back centuries and tied his investment strategy to the broader theme of reviving recognizable Italian names.
The company has pursued efforts to reposition Fiuggi as a premium international water and wellness brand rather than simply a domestic bottled-water business.
Boem
Del Vecchio also became an investor in Boem, a ready-to-drink beverage company originally launched with Italian rappers Fedez and Lazza.
LMDV invested €3 million in the business in 2024 and increased its ownership to 54%. In September 2025, LMDV acquired the remaining shares and took full control of Boem.
Fedez and Lazza continued working with the company as brand ambassadors after giving up their ownership stakes.
Twiga and Hospitality
Del Vecchio has made hospitality one of the largest components of his personal investment portfolio.
His restaurant interests began with concepts including Vesta, Casa Fiori Chiari, and Trattoria del Ciumbia. These operations were consolidated through LMDV Hospitality.
In February 2025, LMDV Hospitality completed the acquisition of 100% of the Twiga Group, the luxury restaurant and nightclub business associated with Italian entrepreneur Flavio Briatore.
The transaction brought Twiga locations in destinations including Monte Carlo and Versilia into Del Vecchio’s hospitality operation. Briatore’s Billionaire venue in Porto Cervo was also incorporated into the business and converted to the Twiga brand.
LMDV combined Twiga with its existing restaurant businesses to create a larger luxury hospitality group employing hundreds of people.
Leone Film Group and Other Investments
LMDV expanded into entertainment in 2024 by acquiring a 13.78% interest in Leone Film Group.
The publicly traded Italian film company was founded by the family of legendary director Sergio Leone and operates in film production and distribution.
Other LMDV investments have included a stake in packaging machinery company IMA, healthcare businesses, financial technology companies, advanced-materials ventures, and real estate.
Del Vecchio has described the common thread linking many of these otherwise unrelated investments as an effort to support and expand high-quality Italian companies and brands.
Del Vecchio made an aggressive move into Italian media beginning in late 2025.
Through LMDV Capital, he acquired a 30% stake in “Il Giornale”, the Milan-based newspaper founded by Indro Montanelli. The transaction was part of Del Vecchio’s stated goal of assembling an Italian-owned media group.
LMDV subsequently pursued Editoriale Nazionale, publisher of several major regional newspapers.
In May 2026, LMDV completed the acquisition of 80% of Editoriale Nazionale, whose publications include “Il Giorno,” “La Nazione,” “Il Resto del Carlino,” and the national QN network.
The deals transformed Del Vecchio from a passive investor in media into one of Italy’s more significant newspaper owners. He became president of Gruppo Editoriale Nazionale.
Philanthropy
Del Vecchio has also been active through charitable foundations.
He served as president of OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation Italia, which provides eye examinations, corrective glasses, and other vision care to people who otherwise have limited access to treatment.
He also founded Fondazione LMDV, which supports education, community projects, and social initiatives.
Among its projects, the foundation contributed €1 million toward the development of a new early-childhood education center in Agordo, the town where Leonardo Del Vecchio founded Luxottica.
Personal Life
Del Vecchio married model Anna Castellini Baldissera in 2022. The marriage ended shortly thereafter.
He later had a relationship with model Sara Soldati. In July 2025, they welcomed a daughter named Bianca.
Leonardo Maria has spoken frequently about his relationship with his father and the responsibility he feels toward the business his father created. Although his fortune came primarily through inheritance, his career has differed from those of several other Del Vecchio heirs through his years working inside Luxottica and EssilorLuxottica and his rapid expansion of LMDV Capital into businesses outside eyewear.
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