Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio leaves his operational roles at EssilorLuxottica. From 31 August he will no longer be president of Ray-Ban or chief strategy officer of the Franco-Italian eyewear giant founded by his father Leonardo Del Vecchio. A decision that goes well beyond the normal managerial turnover, because it comes at the height of tensions within the family and contains a direct criticism of the way in which the group is managed today.
EssilorLuxottica confirmed the resignation, thanking Del Vecchio for his contribution to the growth of the company and the realization of the founder’s strategic vision. But the real climate behind the “separation” emerges from the letter with which Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio announced his exit. The scion – as reported by Milano Finanza e Reuters – would have defined the management of the CEO Francesco Milleri as “distant” and “impersonal”.
The farewell to Ray-Ban and the criticism of Milleri
The transition is particularly significant because Milleri is not only the operational number one of EssilorLuxottica. He was one of the men closest to his father, Leonardo Del Vecchio, in the last years of his life and is today also president of Delfin, the Luxembourg holding through which the family controls a huge part of the empire built by the founder of Luxottica.
Delfin, the Del Vecchio family safe
The eight heirs of Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio (in addition to Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio there are Nicoletta Zampillo, Claudio Del Vecchio, Marisa Del Vecchio, Paola Del Vecchio, Luca Del Vecchio, Clemente Del Vecchio, Rocco Basilico.) own 12.5 percent each of the Delfin holding company which is based in Luxembourg. The company holds – in addition to 32.4% of Essiluxottica (producer of the brands, among others, Ray-Ban, Oakley, Sunglass Hut, Luxottica) – also 17% of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, approximately 10% of Generali, 2.7% of UniCredit and de facto control of the international real estate group Covivio.
Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio’s family office, Lmdv, is currently a 12.5% shareholder in Delfin: it wanted to buy the shares of the brothers Luca and Marisa but the project had stalled, due to financing difficulties and conflicts between the heirs.
The exit of the founder’s son therefore makes public a dissent that concerns not only the daily management of the company, but also the balance of power created after Del Vecchio’s death in June 2022. Leonardo Maria does not in fact leave the EssilorLuxottica shareholder base. Delfin remains the group’s largest shareholder with approximately 32.4% of the capital. His is a step back from operational management, not from the family’s financial empire.
And it is precisely here that the story is intertwined with another battle, the one over the founder’s legacy.
The war in the Del Vecchio family safe
For months Leonardo Maria has been trying to strengthen his weight within Delfin. In 2026 he worked on a billion-dollar operation to purchase the shares held by the brothers Luca and Paola Del Vecchio, financing it through a maxi-bank loan. The attempt to purchase the brothers’ shares is currently stalled and the holding company remains at the center of a dispute between the founder’s eight heirs.
In June the Delfin board rejected by majority the request for a letter of patronage which should have accompanied the financing necessary for the operation. According to Milano Finanza, the plan could have led Leonardo Maria to acquire shares worth in the order of 10 billion euros, within an overall financing of around 11 billion. Among the hypotheses circulated to create liquidity without affecting the stake in EssilorLuxottica there is also the possibility of monetizing part of Delfin’s other large financial investments, including those in MPS and Generali.
A clash that had already shown how deep the divisions were in the family safe and which had put Leonardo Maria right in front of Milleri, president of Delfin as well as CEO of EssilorLuxottica.
The new personal empire of Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio
At the same time, Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio is building its own autonomous entrepreneurial structure. He is executive president of Lmdv Capital, the family office that manages a portfolio of investments valued at around one billion euros and which in recent years has multiplied investments in different companies and sectors. Last June the group also renewed its governance, strengthening Del Vecchio’s strategic role.
The Lmdv galaxy
Leonardo Maria had already declared in 2024 that he had around thirty shareholdings without publishing a complete portfolio with percentages and vehicles of all the companies. From press sources, however, a partial picture can be drawn of the empire which boasts total assets exceeding one billion euros and over 500 million invested in more than 50 companies for a total gross assets estimated at 6 billion euros (of which 5 from Delfin) and an exposure of around one billion in debt. Lmdv Capital in its latest available financial statement, 2024, earned just 31,917 euros net.
| Society | Vehicle | Share | |
| Dolphin | Leonardo Maria personally | 12.5% | It is his share of the family inheritance |
| Lmdv Capital | Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio | personal family office | It is the holding/platform for autonomous investments |
| Water and Spa of Fiuggi | Lmdv / Blue → Salus per Aquam | about 95% | Fiuggi water, spas and related assets. The Municipality maintains approximately 5%. |
| Lmdv Hospitality | Lmdv Capital | over 80% | Leader of the hospitality company born from the integration of Triple Sea Food and Twiga. |
| Twiga Group | Lmdv Hospitality | 100% | Beach club, catering and luxury entertainment acquired entirely by the Briatore/Costa group |
| Bohemian | Lmdv Capital | 100% | Ready-to-drink beverages. In September 2025 it also acquired the shares of the other members – Fedez and Lazza – who remained ambassadors |
| Leone Film Group | Lmdv Capital | 19.45% | Cinema and audiovisual |
| Lmdv Media | Vehicle created specifically to build Leonardo Maria’s publishing hub. | ||
| National Editorial | Lmdv Media | 80% | Since May 2026 it has controlled QN, Il Resto del Carlino, La Nazione and Il Giorno |
| SpeeD | Lmdv Media / National Editorial | 100% | Advertising agency of the QN group |
| The newspaper | Lmdv Capital / media perimeter | 30% | Purchased by the Tosinvest financial company in December 2025 |
| Esa NanoTech | Lmdv Capital | majority | Graphene and nanotechnology. Lmdv acquired a majority stake in an undisclosed percentage |
| Ima | Lmdv Capital / Vacchi consortium | approximately 1.1% | Automatic machines and packaging |
| Rina | Lmdv Capital | non-public share | Certification, engineering, infrastructure and naval sector |
| Atiu | Lmdv Capital | approximately 3.13% | High-end sublimation and packaging technologies |
| Brum Education | Lmdv Capital | 3.83% | Edtech: preparation for driving license tests, project linked to Alpha Test |
| Wishew | Lmdv Capital | non-public share | Social networks/startups |
| Crurated | Lmdv Capital | non-public share | Wine and spirits marketplace with blockchain traceability |
| MD Concierge | Lmdv Capital | non-public share | Healthcare and personalized preventive medicine |
| Martel | Lmdv Capital | non-public share | Luxury, fashion and leather goods |
| Real Estate Milan | Lmdv/ dedicated companies | Among the publicly known assets are Palazzo Smeraldo/piazza XXV Aprile and via Turati 29 | |
| I impredo | Lmdv Capital | Financing agreement with the possibility of progressive entry up to 50% |
The farewell to the roles in EssilorLuxottica can therefore also be read as an acceleration of this strategy: less direct involvement in the managerial machine built by his father and greater autonomy in the management of his investments.
However, the most important question remains open. Who will really control Leonardo Del Vecchio’s industrial and financial legacy? EssilorLuxottica is now a global multinational that goes far beyond traditional eyewear, while Delfin holds strategic stakes in some of the most important Italian groups.
Leonardo Maria’s decision to leave operational duties, accompanied by a criticism of Milleri’s management, makes it clear that the founder’s succession is still far from over. And that the real game is not only played on Ray-Ban or in the offices of EssilorLuxottica, but inside the safe that controls a significant part of the empire left by Leonardo Del Vecchio.