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Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio, one of the children of the late EssilorLuxottica founder Leonardo Del Vecchio, has taken a private succession dispute into the open, pressing the board of the family’s investment vehicle to back a buyout that would tighten his grip on one of Europe’s great fortunes.
EssilorLuxottica owns a portfolio of over 150 brands including the eyewear brands Ray-Ban and Oakley, as well as the famous streetwear label Supreme, among others.
The 31-year-old set out his case in an open letter published on Friday by Quotidiano Nazionale, the Italian newspaper owned by Del Vecchio.
At the centre of the dispute is Del Vecchio’s attempt to acquire the combined 25% holding of his siblings Luca and Paola in Delfin, the Luxembourg-based holding company at the heart of the empire.
Completing the purchase would raise his own stake to 37.5%, making him comfortably the largest shareholder and potentially reshaping the balance of influence within the family over how the dynasty’s assets would pass to the next generation.
In the letter, he accused the board of Delfin of failing to explain why its stance on the deal had shifted.
According to Del Vecchio, doubts surfaced only after shareholders had already endorsed key parts of the transaction and after the reorganisation had been publicly described as a stabilising step.
The plan rests on a roughly €10 billion financing arrangement involving UniCredit, BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole, one of the biggest acquisition loans ever pursued by a private individual in Europe.
As talks progressed, Del Vecchio said the banks involved had pushed for firmer assurances on future dividends, capital stability and Delfin’s long-term direction. Those demands were reasonable, he argued, but the board had failed to respond with a single, transparent position.
A holding company at Italy’s financial crossroads
The outcome carries weight well beyond the family.
Delfin owns a substantial stake in eyewear giant EssilorLuxottica and holds influential positions in some of Italy’s most important financial institutions, among them Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Assicurazioni Generali and UniCredit.
With a net asset value of more than €40 billion, the company has become a recurring presence in debates over banking consolidation across the country.
A rival route is also emerging.
Delfin chairman Francesco Milleri is weighing a counter-proposal under which the holding company itself would buy back Luca and Paola’s stakes at the same valuation and share them among the six remaining heirs, according to La Repubblica.
It could reach shareholders at the 30 June meeting, an encounter Del Vecchio framed in stark terms. The gathering, he wrote, will not be about dividends or the balance sheet, but about “the very nature and future of Delfin.”