Giovanni Ferrero: Italy's richest billionaire, goes to work by private helicopter to avoid the media

If anyone asks about the owner of the world's second largest confectionery empire - Ferrero Group, the people of Italy will boldly call out Giovanni Ferrero's name. He is also the powerful figure behind with a fortune of $ 32 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index.

Smooth start

Giovanni Ferrero is not only the creator of the huge success of the confectionery and chocolate brand Ferrero Spa, but also the representative of two other very famous brands, Nutella and Kinder. According to statistics, every 2.5 seconds, a jar of Nutella is sold. It is one of Italy's biggest exports, the pride of a nation and the brainchild of business icon Michele Ferrero. Thanks to his entrepreneurial talent, he amassed a huge fortune and the title of "richest man" in Italy.

Giovanni Ferrero was born in Farigliano, Italy on April 2, 1964 into a family that owns a multinational company named after the Ferrero family. At that time, the Nutella brand was not yet born. His parents were aware that their two sons needed to be able to handle business when they reached adulthood. And they want their children to be properly educated. So Giovanni was sent to Brussels as a child to pursue a quality education from a Belgian boarding school. He then went on to study marketing at Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Pennsylvania, USA. Giovanni Ferrero's first job was in the family business in Belgium.

In 1997, Mr. Papa Ferrero handed over the property to Giovanni and his brother Pietro. The brothers devised a new way to expand their business and launch newer products under the Ferrero brand. They also implement aggressive marketing strategies to expand their business overseas. The establishment of several new brands has expanded the company's reputation exponentially. The results of this strategy quickly turned positive and Ferrero became a popular name in many countries in Europe, Asia, South America and Australia.

The family is still a mystery to the media

The Ferrero Group dates back to when Giovanni Ferrero's grandfather, Pietro Ferrero, opened a chocolate shop in Alba, Italy. The store's main product is Super Crema, a hazelnut that was born out of a shortage of chocolate during wartime. More than 70 years later, the Ferrero Group is the world's second largest confectionery company. The company sold $11.9 billion in sweets in the fiscal year ending August 2018, Bloomberg reported. The Guardian's veteran reporter John Hooper once said that the Ferrero corporation is one of the most secretive companies in the world. According to an unnamed employee in the company, management is afraid of being spies and revealing their secrets.

Ferrero's father is a private person, he never reveals his life to journalists and always wears dark glasses when appearing in public. According to Forbes magazine, Giovanni now runs the company in Luxembourg and another facility in his hometown, which he often travels by helicopter.

The chance to create a famous brand

Giovanni Ferrero may be considered the Italian billionaire Nutella, but his father also played a role in the formation of the brand. Pietro founded and ran the brand in 1946 by launching a chocolate shop in Alba, Italy. The special attraction of this chocolate shop is a product called Super Crema, a hazelnut that emerged from a wartime recipe.

At the time, his grandfather Pietro Ferrero used the abundant supply of hazelnuts in the Piedmont region and modified the traditional recipe to create a version that required less cocoa. However, this recipe needed a bit of tweaking, and with the help of his son Michele Pietro, he released an improved version in 1964 with a new name: Nutella. Supercrema was officially the forerunner of what is known as Nutella today. Ferrero has also expanded to improvise and create innovative and best-selling brands such as Tic Tac mints, Kinder chocolates, Baby Ruth, Butterfinger... started the Giovanni family business.

Marcia Mogelonsky, Director of Insight at Mintel said: "The ability to adapt quickly to the market and pay attention to changing consumer tastes has made this humble chocolate a reality. global icon". Each year Nutella is produced so much that it can be spread around the world 1.8 times. And to meet this huge demand, Ferrero has become the largest consumer of hazelnuts in the world, accounting for 25% of the global supply.

Giovanni Ferrero and his brother Pietro have achieved much together. Both hold the title of CEO of the company. However, disaster struck in 2011 when Pietro got into a bicycle accident and died suddenly. As a result, Giovani was forced to assume the role of sole head of the company. Meanwhile, his father, Michele Ferrero, took over as Executive Chairman.

Four years after the death of his brother, Giovanni Ferrero's father also passed away. Therefore, he must assume the position of Executive Chairman. Ferrero made his breakthrough in 2017 when he appointed Lapo Civiletti as CEO of the family group.

The huge profits since Giovanni became a lone wolf are the result of the revolutionary methods of appointing an outsider and acquiring important businesses like the Thorntons in 2015. Butterfinger and the maker of BabyRuth, Nestlé's candy business in the US in 2018... The acquisitions were in stark contrast to Ferrero's father's business plan, which focused on building brands. internal. "Tradition is like a bow," Ferrero wrote in an email to Manuela Mesco of The Wall Street Journal. The more we stretch the bowstring, the more likely we are to launch the arrows of modernity and innovation.

In addition to managing the business, Giovanni has another passion that is writing detective books. According to Forbes, he has written eight African-themed novels to date. His latest work "Il cacciatore di luce" was released in 2016. The core pillar of Ferrero's success over the years has been the solid foundation of family culture. By combining the old and the new, Giovanni is creating his own legacy - a feat in the business world.

The proven results of Ferrero's success will undoubtedly continue to be the cornerstone of the company. Giovanni made a big break in just the first 18 months of his solitary "reign". At the same time, expansion through acquisitions is here to further support future growth. With the group's high rate of successful product development, excellent corporate governance, a reputation for attracting the best talent and now a new business model, Ferrero promises the ability to climb from the third to become the largest confectionery corporation in the world.