Chiara Albanese
EssilorLuxottica heir Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio publicly disclosed his challenges with drug addiction and renewed his criticism of the eyewear company’s leadership after stepping down from his executive roles in August.
EssilorLuxottica “has a name, Del Vecchio, and I cannot put my face behind it when salaries are frozen and shares are dropping 50 per cent,” Del Vecchio said in a video podcast with Italian rapper Fedez. “There has not been the right vision after my father. And it is the market that says it, not me.”
Leonardo Maria, one of eight heirs to the fortune left by his father, EssilorLuxottica founder Leonardo Del Vecchio, resigned from the company after failing to win support from the family holding company for loans needed to buy out two of his siblings for €10 billion ($16 billion). He has issued an escalating series of statements criticising EssilorLuxottica chief executive officer, Francesco Milleri, his former mentor and the man his father selected to lead the business.
“My personal relationship with Francesco is not the issue here,” he said, maintaining the CEO has not brought results to the company.
EssilorLuxottica wasn’t immediately available to comment. The Ray-Ban maker’s board and senior executives have issued statements in support of Milleri.
Shares of the French-Italian company, which counts smart-glasses partner Meta as a shareholder, have declined about 46 per cent this year, making EssilorLuxottica the worst performer in the Euro Stoxx 50. It has a current market value of about €68.1 billion.
In the hour-long conversation, Del Vecchio, who Forbes estimates has a fortune of $US5.8 billion ($8.3 billion), revealed he suffered from insomnia and was addicted to a class of drugs that helped him sleep. He said his father “gave us all but love,” and that “I have filled the gaps I felt with drugs.”
Del Vecchio, 31, also said he slept with more than 2000 women, and said he wanted to sell one of his two yachts.
Family holding company Delfin Sarl is chaired by Milleri. It owns just under one-third of EssilorLuxottica and holds stakes in a number of Italian financial companies. It is the top investor in Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena and said last week it would support tender its shares to hostile bidder Intesa Sanpaolo SpA.
The younger Del Vecchio has disclosed about €950 million in debt, including about €500 million in personal borrowings and the rest tied to investments through his LMDV Capital.
A case in the Luxembourg courts is still ongoing to determine whether he and his siblings will be able to transfer their personally owned stakes in Delfin to individual holding companies.
“I’ve taken a step back from the company, but not as a shareholder,” Leonardo Maria said of EssilorLuxottica in the interview.