Eyewear King Del Vecchio Grew Up in an Orphanage

He is among 17 self-made billionaires cited in Time magazine.

Time magazine describes Luxottica chairman Leonardo Del Vecchio’s humble origins — he grew up in an orphanage — before he amassed more than $24 billion as the world’s eyewear king. In an article about “17 Self-Made Billionaires Who Came from the Most Humble of Beginnings,” the article reveals that Del Vecchio, now 80, worked as a young man in a factory making and eyeglass frames and plastic molds for auto parts. He opened his own molding shop at 23, and, well, you know the rest.

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