Ray-Ban Owner Leonardo Del Vecchio Dies Aged 87

Del Vecchio was one of the richest men in Italy, the largest shareholder of Mediobanca and Generali, but above all the creator of an industrial empire that started in the Belluno area and is now recognized throughout the world.

Leonardo Del Vecchio, the Italian entrepreneur who launched a tiny optics workshop that became the largest distribution system in the world of optics, Ray Ban, has died, according to the Corriere della Sera.

The founder of Luxottica and president of EssilorLuxottica was 87 years old and passed away on Monday morning at the San Raffaele hospital in Milan, where he was hospitalized.

Del Vecchio was one of the richest men in Italy, but above all the creator of the world's largest company in the production and sale of eyewear and lenses.

The Italian company has around 80,000 employees and more than 9,000 stores.

His assets as of April 10, 2022 have been valued by Forbes magazine at around 27.3 billion dollars, making him the second richest man in Italy and 62nd in the world.

Born in Milan in 1935 to parents who had emigrated from Puglia, he lived as a child in the Martinitt orphanage. This didn't stop him from creating an empire which would make him one of the richest men in Italy.