EssilorLuxottica clan's $47 billion fortune rift grows with heir's exit

A feud among Leonardo Del Vecchio's heirs over his €40 billion fortune is deepening, raising governance concerns at Delfin and its key investments

The fight over the late Leonardo Del Vecchio’s more than €40 billion ($46.6 billion) fortune deepened after the exit of one of his heirs from management roles at the eyewear company he founded.

 

Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio, the fourth son of Leonardo Del Vecchio, had sought — and failed — to break the deadlock at the family firm Delfin Sarl, the biggest shareholder of EssilorLuxottica SA. His abrupt decision, made public Tuesday, to step down from roles at the eyewear company and focus on his family office LMDV Capital removes from the group an heir at the center of the latest attempt to reshape Delfin’s ownership. The clan has been stuck in a four-year feud over the firm since the founder’s death. 

 

Differences among the eight heirs and their many advisers on the structure, ownership and operations at Delfin have led to a governance crisis at a key corporate player in Italy, with consequences not just for EssilorLuxottica but also for the country’s financial sector.  

Delfin is the biggest shareholder of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA, the lender at the center of Italy’s latest round of bank dealmaking, and also has a stake in Assicurazioni Generali SpA, one of Europe’s largest insurers, alongside an investment in Unicredit SpA.  

For EssilorLuxottica, the stalemate at the family estate is becoming a distraction as it strives to hang on to its first-mover lead in the market for artificial-intelligence smartglasses, which it produces with Meta Platforms, and protect its profit margins. That’s becoming increasingly challenging as the likes of Apple, Google and Samsung enter the fray.  

“The complexity of Delfin’s corporate governance has had an impact on EssilorLuxottica’s shares,” said Nicolò Nunziata, an equity and multi-asset strategist at Banca Finint, pointing to pressures from intensifying competition.