Del Vecchio rose from poverty to billions by adding style to spectacles

Iconic brands like Ray-Ban and Oakley were among the scores of targets Del Vecchio snapped up on his way to the top

Businessman Leonardo del Vecchio, who has died aged 87, created the glasses company that owns brands including Ray-Ban and used his billions to become one of the most influential figures in Italian finance.

Del Vecchio rose from a childhood in an orphanage to amass a fortune of tens of billions of euros in one of the most famous rags-to-riches stories in Italy's post-war economic recovery.

At the end of 2021, he was Italy's second richest man, behind only Giovanni Ferrero of the Nutella-making group, according to Forbes.

As is common in Italy, Del Vecchio, the chairman of spectacles maker EssilorLuxottica, did not retire