The 31-year-old billionaire Ray-Ban heir fighting to control the family’s fortune
Sonia Sirletti And Daniele Lepido
Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio, heir to the Ray-Ban empire built by his late father, publicly challenged his family’s holding company to back the two brothers’ €10 billion ($16.2 billion) buyout, days before a key shareholder meeting on June 30.
In an open letter published on the online newspaper’s website Quotidiano NazionaleThe 31-year-old actor accused the board of directors of his Delfin Sarl company of failing to provide clear explanations of its changing position on a proposed transaction that would have made him the largest shareholder of the Luxembourg-based investment vehicle.
“The issue has ceased to be financial and has become a management issue,” del Vecchio wrote, questioning why concerns about the deal arose only after shareholders had already voted in favor of key elements of the transaction and following public statements that described the restructuring as a stabilizing move.
His intervention escalates the fight over control of one of Europe’s biggest fortunes and highlights the difficulties of getting Del Vecchio’s bid across the finish line amid the complex management structure established by Luxottica founder Leonardo Del Vecchio, whose empire became EssilorLuxottica SA before his death in 2022. His plan aims in part to ease divisions within the family, which has struggled to reach consensus on big decisions.
Del Vecchio is trying to buy the 25 percent shares held in Delfin by his siblings Luca and Paola; The transaction would increase his ownership to 37.5 percent, making him by far the largest shareholder and potentially ending years of uncertainty surrounding the transfer of the family’s empire.
But the deal is contingent on securing a complex 10 billion euro financing package with UniCredit SpA, BNP Paribas SA and Credit Agricole SA, one of the largest acquisition financings ever sought by an individual in Europe, people familiar with the matter said.
Del Vecchio said participating lenders have recently been seeking more certainty on future dividends, capital stability and Delfin’s long-term strategy as financing discussions progress. The letter stated that although these requests were legitimate, the Delfin board failed to adopt a unified and transparent stance on how to address these requests.
While questions about financing remain, Delfin President Francesco Milleri is considering an alternative that would allow the holding company to buy back the shares sold by Luca and Paola Del Vecchio, La Repubblica reported on Sunday. Delfin will purchase the shares at a pre-agreed valuation of around €10 billion and redistribute them among the six remaining heirs. The proposal could be presented to shareholders at the annual meeting on June 30, according to the newspaper.
Del Vecchio’s latest comments sharpen questions about governance at Delfin, which owns a large stake in EssilorLuxottica and has major investments in some of Italy’s most strategically important financial institutions, including Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA, Assicurazioni Generali SpA and UniCredit.
With a net asset value exceeding €40 billion, Delfin has become an influential player in Italy’s corporate landscape and often finds itself at the center of debates around bank consolidation and financial sector deals.
The heirs will meet at the end of the month for the holding company’s annual meeting to approve earnings and payouts.
“The meeting on June 30 will not be about dividends, the balance sheet or closing,” del Vecchio wrote. “It will touch on something deeper: the nature and future of Delfin.”
