Who is Rocco Basilico and why the Ray-Ban heir has rejected a $3.9 billion buyout offer for stake in family firm Delfin?
Written By Bobins Vayalil Abraham
The family feud that has rocked EssilorLuxottica SA, the Italian luxury eyewear giant that owns brands including Ray-Ban, has taken another turn as one of the heirs has turned down a $3.9 billion share buyout offer. Rocco Basilico has said ‘no’ to his stepbrother, Leonardo Maria del Vecchio, who had offered $3.9 billion for his 12.5% stake in Delfin Sarl, the family investment company, Bloomberg reported.
Basilico is reportedly seeking around $4.8 billion for his stake in Delfin, the holding company based in Luxembourg. According to Bloomberg, in addition to the EssilorLuxottica stake, the company has significant investments in Italian financial institutions, including Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA and Assicurazioni Generali SpA.
The offer marks the latest attempt by Leonardo Maria, the namesake son of EssilorLuxottica founder Leonardo Del Vecchio, to increase his stake in the family holding. He left the eyewear company earlier this year after a failed effort to buy out two other Del Vecchio siblings, and has since become an outspoken critic of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Francesco Milleri, who also chairs Delfin.
According to Forbes, Rocco Basilico, the stepson of Leonardo Del Vecchio, has a net worth of $5.8 billion. He inherited a 12.5% stake in Delfin after Del Vecchio's death in 2022, along with his mother and six siblings.
Basilico is one of only two Del Vecchio heirs to work at the company, where he serves as EssilorLuxottica's chief wearables officer and head of luxury brands. He is widely recognized for leading the company’s tech-forward partnerships, including the collaboration with Meta for the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses.
Since the death of Del Vecchio, Delfin has been run by an independent board whose members are appointed for fixed terms and largely shielded from the influence of the heirs by the holding company's strict governance rules.
Under the structure left by the late Del Vecchio, key matters are in the hands of the board, unless the eight heirs, who each own 12.5% of Delfin, can reach a unanimous decision or a very wide agreement.
According to Reuters, in the latest challenge to the structure, three of Delfin's eight investors have asked a court in Luxembourg to change a provision in the bylaws that effectively subjects any changes in the board composition to a unanimous shareholder decision, two people close to the matter told Reuters.
The proposed changes would render a two-thirds majority sufficient, equivalent to the vote of six Delfin shareholders.
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