Michele Ferrero – Net Worth, Money and More
NET WORTH: $20.4 BILLION
PROFESSION: BUSINESS MAN
“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.” We all are chocolate lovers. But some chocolate lovers don’t just stick to eating them, but they also enjoy experimenting and manufacturing new tastes of chocolates. One such person is Michelle Ferrero. Michelle Ferrero is the owner of “Ferrero SpA”. He was born on 26th April 1925, at Dogliani in Italy.
Net Worth
88 year old Ferrero is Italy’s richest person, with a personal wealth of $19 billion. Michele Ferrero and his family has been on 23rd position in Forbes Billionaires list with an estimated net worth US 22 billion in 2012. He currently resides at Monte Carlo, Monaco. The strong sales of his chocolates in Russia, the U.S., and Brazil, made the company’s revenue rise from 9.1% in 2011 to $9.6 billion. The increase pushed up the value of the group, and Ferrero’s net worth by $1.4 billion.
Family History
Michele Ferrero is the patriarch of Italian chocolate dynasty Ferrero Group. Michele Ferrero was the son of Pietro Ferrero, a pastry chef who in the 1940’s created the first version of what is now Nutella.
However, Michele inherited the company from his father in the 1950’s and turned it into one of the largest confectionery makers, whose brands include Ferrero Rocher hazelnut chocolates, Nutella ,Tic Tac and Kinder Eggs. Michele Ferrero has two sons, Giovanni Ferrero and Pietro Ferrero, who have led the company since 1997. Unfortunately, Pietro died on 18th April 2011 in an accident in South Africa. The 88 year old patriarch of Italian chocolate dynasty then passed the reigns of the company over to his son Giovanni Ferrero.
Business Settlement
During World War II, there was very little chocolate because cocoa was in short supply. Pietro Ferrero used hazelnuts, which are plentiful in the Piedmont region of Italy, to extend the chocolate supply. The first product was similar to a loaf of bread (completely chocolate based) and later took the form of a cream.
This later launched his company Ferrero SpA.
Business Expansion
However, while Pietro Ferrero was the mastermind behind modern day Nutella, it was the business acumen of his son Michele that propelled the company into a global multinational.
In 1963, Michele revamped what was then his father’s product a hazelnut chocolate based ‘super cream’ into the Nutella brand all across Europe. A year later, it proved an instant success and a few years later the milk based kinder Chocolate line was also launched by Michele Ferrero also known as ‘Kinder Surprise’. As the company grew, various lines were created under Ferrero Rocher, Mon Cheri, Pocket Coffee and the famous pocket mints Tic Tac.
Today, the group operates more than 70 affiliated companies, has 15 production plants and employs nearly 22,000 people worldwide. For every 100 hazelnuts grown on Earth, 15 end up in a Ferrero product.
Sitting behind Ferrero are other famous creators such as Leonardo Del Vecchio of Luxottica which owns Ray Ban, Oakley, SunGlass Hut and Lens Crafters as well as fashion moguls Giorgio Armani and Miuccia Prada.
Ferrero SpA
Ferrero Spa has been described as “one of the world’s most secretive firms”. Ferrero International headquarters is in Luxemburg. The company places great emphasis on secrecy to guard against industrial espionage. It has never held a press conference and does not allow media visits to its plants. Ferrero’s products are made with machines designed by an in-house engineering department.
In addition to Nutella, Ferrero produces many other products, including Ferrero Rocher, Pocket Coffee, Mon Cheri, Giotto, Confetteria Faffaello coconut cream candy, Hanuta chocolate hazelnut-filled wafers, the Kinder line of products, as well as Tic Tac mints.
A dark version of the Ferrero Rocher is also available, called the Ferrero Rondnoir, which contains a pearl of dark chocolate in the center instead of a hazelnut, chocolate cream instead of hazelnut cream and crunchy chocolate bits instead of crushed hazelnuts. There is also a coconut version, Confetteria Raffaello, which contains coconut cream surrounding an almond and covered with meringue and shredded coconut. The Ferrero Prestige collection is a set of three Pralines: Rocher, Rondnoir, and a coconut version called Garden Coco. The Garden Coco is similar to the Confetteria Raffaello, but has milk cream instead of coconut cream.
Ferrero also produces the Kinder product series, including Kinder Surprise, Kinder Chocolate bars, Kinder Happy Hippo, Kinder Maxi, Kinder Duplo, Kinder Delice and Kinder Bueno.
In 2011 Ferrero introduced a line of frozen products called ‘Gran Soleil’. The company received an innovation award for the product in March 2011.
Ferrero SpA Headquarter
Personal life
The great leader of the Group’s development is Michele Ferrero. With the desire to make and create new products with state-of-the-art ideas, he has revolutionized the food habits of millions of consumers. With the consistent and efficient partnership with his wife Maria Franca, he was the first Italian manufacturer after World War II to open production sites and offices abroad in the confectionary sector, turning the company into a truly international Group.
While Michele lives in the Monte Carlo, home to the many of the World’s Richest individuals he actually prefers his bicycle to his one Ferrari as a mode of transportation cycling many kilometers per day. He also shuttles by helicopter from his home in Monte Carlo to the main chocolate factory in the North West Italian City of Alba every week to taste new recipes. Despite its size, the company and its owners is known for being very secretive and private to the point he is rarely seen in public without sunglasses.
Foundation Ferrero
“Work, create and give”
These are the guiding principles of the Piera, Pietro and Giovanni Ferrero Foundation, established in Alba in 1983 at the wish if Michele Ferrero. The Foundation works with tireless enthusiasm and commitment. Its work embraces social solidarity and culture, and emphasis the finest aspects of the human condition.
