Michele Ferrero Net Worth & Biography

Michele Ferrero died on February 14, 2015, at his home in Monte Carlo at the age of 89. He was the founder of the popular Italian confectionery that prevailed over wartime cocoa shortages by coalescing hazelnuts and chocolate to create the edible spreadable vice known around the world as Nutella. Often described as a real-life Willy Wonka, Ferrero built a chocolate juggernaut from a candy business his father founded in the hills of Piedmont way back in the 1940s. The younger Mr. Ferrero, who grew the company and expanded it across continents, became one of the world’s wealthiest businesspersons. Based in the Italian town of Alba, Ferrero is one of the biggest candy-makers of its kind, exporting lovely treats including the Tic Tac, breath mint, the Kinder Surprise chocolate egg, the chocolate-encased cherry Mon Cheri, the coconut-encrusted Raffaello, and the Ferrero Rocher hazelnut delight. However, the company remains famed mostly for Nutella, a product name coined by Ferrero himself in 1964. Two decades prior, his parents, Pietro and Piera Ferrero managed a pastry shop in Alba. The ravages of the Second World War had left cocoa in short supply, but hazelnuts grew plentifully. The scarcities of earlier European wars led creative Italians to combine hazelnuts and chocolate to make the delicacy called gianduja, and Pietro made a similar product in the form of a sliceable brick initially. Following the death of his father in 1949 and his uncle in 1957, Michele Ferrero took over the family company and grew it to become an internationally-acclaimed establishment. Beginning in the late 1990s, the chocolate company was led by Ferrero’s sons, Pietro and Giovanni Ferrero. Pietro died in 2011. Besides Giovanni, Ferrero’s survivors include his wife of over fifty years, Maria Franca.

Early Life: Childhood, Family

The late businessman, Michele Ferrero, was born in the town of Dogliani on 26 April 1925. He was the son of Piera Cillario, and her husband, Pietro Ferrero, the Italian entrepreneur who founded the Ferrero Company.

Ferrero looked askance at higher education. According to the leading Italian newspaper, Corriere della Sera, he often expressed himself in dialect.

Professional Life: Entrepreneurial Career

Ferrero joined his father’s firm in 1949 and later took over the handling of the entire business when his uncle died in 1957. He was the richest man in Italy, with a personal fortune of $26 billion, surpassing media mogul Silvio Berlusconi in March 2008. In May 2014, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index named him as the 20th wealthiest person in the world. His brands include Nutella, Kinder Eggs, Tic Tacs, Kinder Chocolate, Ferrero Rocher, and Mon Chéri.

From 1997, his sons, Pietro Ferrero and Giovanni Ferrero co-led the company. After Pietro died in an accident in South Africa on 18 April 2011, Giovanni became the sole chief executive officer of the company.

Mr. Ferrero was widely regarded as a benevolent boss who granted his staff generous benefits. In a country where strikes are a common occurrence, his workforce was reported to never have launched one. A devote Catholic, his factories and offices had statues of the Madonna around. His global influence might have been weighed in hazelnuts, the seeds that helped sustain his family through the Second World War and later made the Ferrero name and brand known around the world.

Personal Life: Wife, Children, Private Interests

Mr. Ferrero lived a private life and mostly wore sunglasses anytime he stepped out. He commuted to work by helicopter and appeared to be most content in the lab where he participated in the testing of products, and in stores, where he studied consumer habits and tastes anonymous.

He married Maria Franca Fissolo in 1962. They had two sons together, Pietro Ferrero Jr. and Giovanni Ferrero.

As already mentioned, Ferrero was a fervent Catholic, and he visited the Lourdes shrine annually. He died at his home in Monte Carlo, Monaco, on 14 February 2015, at the age of 89.

Michele Ferrero Net Worth: Salary, Income Sources, Assets

The late Italian businessman Michele Ferrero had a net worth of $25 billion at the peak of his career accomplishments. His estimated fortune made him the wealthiest person in Italy while he was alive, and he made his wealth as the owner of Ferrero SpA, the successful chocolate company that is responsible for numerous treats including Kinder Eggs, Kinder Chocolate, Ferrero Rocher, Mon Cheri, Tic Tacs, and Nutella, among others.

The chocolate manufacturer Ferrero SpA is regarded as Europe’s second-biggest confectionery company, and it was Michele Ferrero that developed it from what it used to be – a small bakery and café owned by his father in Alba, Piedmont – to a successful world-renowned candy-making business. The company runs 18 factories across the world with more than 20,000 employees. His desire and determination to introduce new and likable products with unique ideas have truly revolutionized the food habits of millions across the world.