Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio, the 31-year-old son of Delfin founder Leonardo Del Vecchio, has resigned as chairman of Ray-Ban and chief strategy officer of EssilorLuxottica, ending a bitter succession battle at the €55 billion holding company.
Delfin, which controls EssilorLuxottica and holds substantial stakes in Italian banks and insurers including UniCredit, Mediobanca, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena and Generali, has been paralysed by infighting among eight heirs since the patriarch's death in 2022.
Del Vecchio's proposal to buy out two siblings was opposed by EssilorLuxottica chairman and CEO Francesco Milleri and his stepbrother Rocco Basilico, who warned against concentrating too much power in his hands. The dispute reached courts in Italy and Luxembourg.
In his parting statement, Del Vecchio said the company his father founded had "lost its soul", adding: "The enthusiasm is not what it was. The sense of belonging is not what it was."