# EssilorLuxottica Heir Rejects $3.9 Billion Bid for His Stake in the Family Empire > Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio has turned down an offer to buy out his position in Delfin, the holding company built by his late father, deepening a rift among the eyewear dynasty's eight heirs. - Source: Principle Post - Canonical URL: https://principlepost.com/article/rayban-heir-rejects-billion-dollar-offer - Author: Principle Post Staff - Section: Business - Published: 2026-10-29T12:32:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-29T12:32:00.000Z - Tags: EssilorLuxottica, Ray-Ban, Del Vecchio, Delfin, family business --- Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio, one of eight heirs to EssilorLuxottica founder Leonardo Del Vecchio, has rejected a roughly $3.9 billion offer for his stake in Delfin, the family holding vehicle that controls the Ray-Ban and Oakley maker. The rebuffed offer is the latest flashpoint in a succession dispute that has simmered since the elder Del Vecchio's death and has already pushed the younger Del Vecchio out of his executive roles at the eyewear giant. The elder Del Vecchio built EssilorLuxottica from a single eyewear factory in northern Italy into the company behind Ray-Ban, Oakley, Persol and the licensed eyewear lines of Chanel and Prada, leaving behind one of Europe's largest family fortunes when he died in 2022. ## A feud that has spilled into public view Del Vecchio stepped down earlier this year as the group's chief strategy officer and as president of Ray-Ban amid clashes with EssilorLuxottica's leadership, and has since pursued his own ventures, including a since-abandoned bid for an Italian newspaper. The dispute has grown unusually public for a family known for guarding its affairs closely, with Del Vecchio at one point publicly acknowledging past drug use while criticizing the company's current management, remarks that further strained his relationship with the board he once sat on. Rather than cash out quietly, he has pressed Delfin's board to instead back a buyout of other family members' positions, a plan reportedly backed by roughly 10 billion euros in financing from UniCredit, BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole. ## What staying in means for the other heirs By turning down the buyout of his own stake, Del Vecchio signals he intends to remain a shareholder in the empire his father built, keeping pressure on his seven siblings as the family works toward a resolution over how control of one of the world's largest eyewear companies will ultimately be divided. His refusal effectively forces the rest of the family to either match his terms for consolidating ownership or accept that Delfin's governance will stay contested for the foreseeable future, prolonging a succession fight that has already outlasted most observers' expectations for how quickly it would resolve. --- Originally published by Principle Post. Free to cite with attribution and a link to https://principlepost.com/article/rayban-heir-rejects-billion-dollar-offer.