Italy is maybe not surprising given a nation known for its extravagant luxury, including high-end Milanese fashion, traditional food and Tuscan wine, given some of the richest people in the world call their home.
Along with its historic towns, mouthwatering cuisine, and romantic ambiance, Italy’s boot-shaped country is well-known for its powerful business leaders and entrepreneurs. From the world of fashion to the domain of food and drink, Italian creativity has generated some of the richest people on earth.
Among the several sectors these billionaires have made their riches in include fashion, retail, media, healthcare, drugs, and automobiles.
List Of Top 10 Richest People In Italy 2024
1. Giovanni Ferrero -$42.7 Billion
Built largely on a secret cocoa-hazelnut formula known as Pasta Gianduja (or as the rest of the world now knows: Nutella), Giovanni Ferrero, the grandson of business founder Pietro, is leading a worldwide multibillion dollar enterprise. Notoriously tired of industrial espionage, Ferrero also makes the Kinder range of goods and Tic Tac mints; reporters are forbidden from visiting the manufacturing facilities of the company. The business has since added other Nestlé brands as well as several confectionery brands in the North American market under Ferrero’s keen leadership to create an amazing portfolio. Claiming first on our list, Ferrero is presently the richest person living in Italy. His personal fortune approaches mind-boggling $40 billion! But a cursory glance at Forbes’s Real Time Billionaires List reveals that Ferrero’s wealth is meager compared to that of the richest individuals living today.
3. Giorgio Armani -$11.5 Billion
Though his name is now a global byword for luxury and exuberance, Giorgio Armani’s early years could not have been more different. Originally from a working-class background, the fashionista spent time in the army and at medical school before landing a job as a window dresser in a Milan department store 1957. Armani first established his venerable namesake label in 1975, transforming it into a worldwide powerhouse with 270 outlets in 31 countries following his prominence as a designer in the 1960s and 1970s. The brand has also evolved into luxury hotels since 2005, with a flagship hotel housed at the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. The King of Fashion, meantime, seems not to slow down. He still oversees daily operations of the business and is waiting to name a successor for when he finally leaves.
4. Piero Ferrari -$8.5 Billion
Second and only living heir of Enzo Ferrari, Piero Lardi Ferrari is vice chairman of the Ferrari firm and owns 10% of it. Originally working for his father as an unofficial translator, he was hired formally as a technical supervisor in the early 1970s. He joined the Formula One team in 1974 as a co-organiser, helping the sporting directors. Ferrari also serves as chairman of HPE COXA, which he started in 1998. This business sought to provide premium engineering services and very accurate manufacture of specialty prototypes.
5. Massimiliana Landini Aleotti -$8 Billion
Massimiliana Aleotti, the widow of pharmaceuticals billionaire Alberto Aleotti, assumed control of the powerful Menarini Group in 2014 however she still has general ownership alongside her children Lucia and Alberto Giovanni. The family hasn’t been without controversy, but either. 2016 saw Lucia and Alberto Giovanni found guilty of tax fraud and money laundering; they were sentenced to 10.5 and 10 years respectively. The Court of Appeal in Florence reversed this decision in December 2018, therefore clearing the siblings of any guilt.
6. Miuccia Prada -$6.1 Billion
Fashion designer Miuccia Bianchi Prada is a businesswoman with an international reputation. Along with starting a subsidiary clothes company called Miu Miu, she is the head designer of the well-known brand Prada. Having been the younger granddaughter of Mario Prada, she inherited the luxury company in 1978. She has subsequently also bought other well-known businesses including Jil Sander and Helmut Lang. She built her own modern art museum in 2002, meantime. 2014 saw Prada enveloped in scandal as Milan prosecutors investigated claimed tax dodging, which led with her paying over €400 million ($437 million) in 2016.
7. Patrizio Bertelli -$6 Billion
Former co-CEO of Prada, Patrizio Bertelli started his career at the age of twenty-one. At this point he founded Sir Robert, a leather goods company that would form the foundation of his entrepreneurial expansion. He first met Prada in the 1970s; as they subsequently married, what began as a professional relationship rapidly evolved into a loving one. Bertelli developed a new business model inside Prada by aggregating all internal procedures to provide complete control of the production line and quality standards, hence guiding the company’s explosive growth during the 1980s and 1990s. Bertelli participated also in the 2014 tax debate.
8. Giuseppe De’Longhi -$4.8 Billion
Those who enjoy coffee will most likely be familiar with De’Longhi coffee makers, under Giuseppe’s direction as president of parent firm De’Longhi SpA. Originally making heaters, air conditioners and home appliances, the company, which was founded in Treviso in 1902, became well-known in 1990 for manufacturing the premium coffee machines with which the family name is now associated. Under De’Lognhi’s direction, the family line seems safe; son Fabio is the current CEO; the company has signed successful distribution and production agreements with major market behemoths such as Kenwood and Braun.
9. Sergio Stevanato -$4.4 Billion
Born in Venice and a recipient of the Cavaliere del Lavoro (Order of Merit for Labor), Sergio Stevanato is chairman emeritus of Stevanato Group, a worldwide firm established by his father. In addition, he owns Tenuta Stella winery in Italy’s renowned Collio wine area and is head of a financial corporation named SFEM. Originally a glassware producer in 1949, the family’s Group, now led by Sergio’s sons Franco and Marco, has evolved a great distance from its origins. It now ranks as the largest privately owned maker of pharmaceutical sector main packaging worldwide. Fiscal 2022 revenue for the corporation came out to be €983.7 million ($1.07 billion).
10. Luca Garavoglia -$4.2 Billion
Should Garavoglia’s name not speak to you, the group he leads to will go by Gruppo Campari. With a portfolio ranging over the years to include Aperol, SKYY vodka, Wild Turkey, and Appleton, among others, that is the number one provider of luxury spirits in Italy and the sixth biggest worldwide. From 1994, Garavoglia has chaired Gruppo Campari. His eldest sister, Maddalena, sued her family for “ousting,” her from the group, and at the time this passing over of the powers was greeted with resentment. In 2006 Maddalena received a large €100 million ($109 million) payment. Luca also acquired his mother 51% of the Campari Group in the meantime upon her death in 2016.