Ray-Ban owner Leonardo Del Vecchio, who died in June 2022, left his $25.5 billion fortune to his second wife and six children. The $3.5 billion inheritance to each has made three of the kids some of the youngest billionaires in the world.
Clemente Del Vecchio is one of six children of Leonardo Del Vecchio, and he inherited a 12.5% stake in his father's Luxembourg-based holding company Delfin after his death, along with his stepmother and five siblings.
Clemente Del Vecchio is one of two children Del Vecchio had with Sabina Grossi, along with his brother Luca. After inheriting his stake in his father's fortune, Clemente has become the world's youngest billionaire at age 18 with a net worth of $3.2 billion or Rs 1.56 lakh crore.
Clemente's brother Luca Del Vecchio is the fourth youngest billionaire in the world now with a net worth of $3.5 billion. He also inherited a 12.5% stake worth $3.5 billion in Delfin after his father's death.
Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio, Clemente and Luca's stepbrother, is one of only two of his father's heirs to work at the company. He serves as EssilorLuxottica's chief strategy officer. He is also the CEO of eyeglasses retailer Salmoiraghi & Viganò. He is the eighth youngest billionaire in the world.
Leonardo Del Vecchio was born into poverty. His father died when he was young, and he was sent to an orphanage at age 7 because his widowed mother could not afford to support her five children.
He began apprenticing at a car and eyewear parts factory at age 14 -- where he once severed part of his finger -- to put himself through design school. In 1967, he started selling complete spectacle frames under the Luxottica brand, and in 1971 he entered the contact manufacturing business.
Leonardo Del Vecchio founded Luxottica in 1961, at age 25. Under his leadership, it acquired Sunglass Hut, the iconic Ray-Ban and Oakley, and grew to make glasses for virtually every brand including Bulgari and Chanel.
Leonardo Del Vecchio, the 52nd richest person in the world on Forbes' billionaires ranks, was worth roughly $25 billion at the time of his death in 2022. At the end of 2021, he was Italy's second richest man, behind only Giovanni Ferrero of the Nutella-making group, according to Forbes.
Del Vecchio was married three times. He had one son, Claudio Del Vecchio, and two daughters, Marisa and Paola, with his first wife. With his second wife he had another son, Leonardo Maria; and with his third wife two sons, Luca and Clemente. He remarried his second wife in 2010.