Who is Giovanni Ferrero?
Giovanni Ferrero is the executive chairman of the Ferrero Group, the Italian confectionery company behind Nutella, Kinder, Ferrero Rocher and Tic Tac, and the richest person in Italy. Forbes’ 2026 estimate, reported by Money.it in March, put his fortune at about $48.8 billion, and its real-time figure was near $48 billion 12.
How did Giovanni Ferrero make his money?
He inherited and then ran the family company. His grandfather Pietro Ferrero opened a chocolate shop in Alba, Piedmont, in 1946, and his father, Michele Ferrero, built it into a global group with Nutella, Kinder, Tic Tac and Ferrero Rocher. Giovanni and his brother Pietro Jr. became co-chief executives in 1997, and Giovanni took sole control after his brother died in 2011 and his father in 2015 345.
Early life and education
He was born on 21 September 1964 in Farigliano, in Piedmont, the son of Michele Ferrero and Maria Franca Fissolo. He attended the European School in Brussels and studied marketing at Lebanon Valley College in Pennsylvania 367.
Running Ferrero
He became sole chief executive in April 2011 after his brother’s sudden death in South Africa. After his father died in February 2015 he became executive chairman, made the group’s first acquisitions and in 2017 hired Lapo Civiletti as its first chief executive who is not a family member. Ferrero later agreed a $3.1 billion deal for Kellogg’s cookie and snack brands 4589. Read Giovanni Ferrero’s companies.
Family
He is married to Paola Rossi and has two children. The family lives in Brussels, and he is also a published writer 710.
Giovanni Ferrero net worth
Forbes’ 2026 estimate is about $48.8 billion, roughly ₹4.6 lakh crore at ₹94 to the dollar, compared with $26.3 billion in July 2020 111. See Giovanni Ferrero net worth and our ranking of the top 50 richest people in the world.