EssilorLuxottica Chairman Leonardo Del Vecchio Passes Away at Age 87

Italian fashion icon Leonardo Del Vecchio, chairman of EssilorLuxottica, passed away at the age of 87, the company announced Monday. 

"The company expresses its deepest condolences to the family and to the global employee community for this enormous loss. The Board will meet to determine next steps," the company stated in a brief news release. 

Leonardo Del Vecchio is the Chairman of EssilorLuxottica, the maker of Ray-Ban and Oakley, and the founder of the Luxottica Group. He was Executive Chairman of EssilorLuxottica between October 2018 and December 2020.

According to his biography listed on the EssilorLuxottica site, in 1986, he was awarded the honor of “Cavaliere del Lavoro” by the President of the Italian Republic.

In May 1995, he received an honorary degree in Business Administration from the Venice Ca’ Foscari University. In 1999, he received a Master honoris causa in International Business from MIB – Management School in Trieste, and in 2002 he received an honorary degree in Managerial Engineering from the University of Udine. In March 2006, Mr. Del Vecchio received another honorary degree in Materials Engineering from Politecnico of Milan.

In December 2012, the Foundation CUOA awarded him an honorary master’s degree in Business Administration.

In 2017, he established the Leonardo Del Vecchio Foundation to support charitable and non-profit initiative.

Leonardo Del Vecchio is Chairman of Delfin S.à r.l. and Aterno S.à r.l.; Chairman of the Leonardo Del Vecchio Foundation; Vice-Chairman of Covivio S.A; and Chairman of the Strategic and Investment Committee of the same company.