In the rolling hills of Piedmont, Italy, where hazelnut groves whisper secrets to the wind, a family dynasty was born that would sweeten the palates of billions. Giovanni Ferrero is the head of this candy empire. His life is split between the high-stakes world of global business and the more introspective world of literature. Giovanni was born into incredible wealth. He turned his inheritance—Ferrero SpA, the company that makes Nutella, Kinder, and Ferrero Rocher—into a $18 billion giant while writing novels about the dark sides of human nature in secret. Ferrero is Italy’s richest person and a reclusive billionaire. He is a rare combination of business savvy and artistic sensitivity.
Early Life: A Mix of Tradition and Exile
Giovanni Ferrero was born on September 21, 1964, in the small village of Farigliano, which is in Italy’s Langhe region. He was the second son of Michele Ferrero, the visionary who turned a small pastry shop in Alba into a global candy giant, and Maria Franca Fissolo, whose quiet strength kept the family together. Giovanni’s grandfather, Pietro Ferrero Sr., came up with the idea for Nutella, the world’s most popular breakfast treat, in 1946 to help with cocoa shortages after World War II.
The smells of chocolate and ambition filled Giovanni’s childhood. But when he was 11 years old, in 1975, he was moved to Brussels, Belgium, where he went to the prestigious European Schools. This multicultural experience helped him improve his language skills—he speaks fluent Italian, French, English, and German—and gave him a global perspective that is important for running a multinational business. Giovanni went to Lebanon Valley College in Pennsylvania, USA, to get more training. He got a degree in marketing. These formative years abroad, far from the family’s Italian heartland, gave him the skills he needed to deal with the difficulties of international trade. They also sparked a growing interest in storytelling as a way to escape the corporate world.
Giovanni went back to Europe in the early 1990s after he graduated. At first, he worked in the family business in roles that combined marketing strategy with operational oversight. It was a planned apprenticeship that would soon put him in charge of a group of people who had lost a lot.
Rise to Power: From Joint Heir to Sole Guardian
In 1997, Giovanni and his older brother, Pietro Ferrero Jr., became co-CEOs of Ferrero SpA. Their father Michele did this to prepare the next generation. Pietro’s ability to come up with new ideas and Giovanni’s ability to be very precise in his analysis made them a good team. They led the company to rapid growth, entering markets in Asia and the Americas while protecting the Ferrero values of quality and secrecy, with recipes kept safe like state secrets.
On April 18, 2011, tragedy struck when Pietro, who was only 50, had a heart attack while riding his bike in South Africa. Giovanni became the only CEO overnight, taking on the responsibility of a $10 billion business at a critical time. Michele Ferrero, who was then 86 and the richest man in Europe, kept the title of executive chairman and gave fatherly advice. Giovanni was tough in the beginning. He streamlined operations, invested in sustainable sourcing (Ferrero now sources 100% sustainable cocoa), and made important acquisitions, like Nestlé’s U.S. chocolate portfolio in 2018 for $2.8 billion, which helped brands like Butterfinger and Crunch.
Giovanni’s reign was unchallenged after Michele died in February 2015. He was both CEO and chairman for a short time before naming Lapo Civiletti as CEO in 2017. This let him focus on long-term strategy as executive chairman. Ferrero Group now has more than 46,000 employees in 55 countries and makes 1.5 million tons of goods every year. Forbes said in 2024 that Giovanni was worth $43.8 billion. This makes him Italy’s richest person and the 26th richest person in the world. His wealth is not based on speculation, but on the timeless appeal of chocolate.
The Writer’s Quill: A Different Way to Live Than Corporate Life
A poet’s heart beats under the suits in the boardroom. Giovanni Ferrero is not a casual writer; even though he doesn’t write a lot, his work shows that he is very interested in narrative craft. He has written eight books, including business books and novels. He often draws on his own thoughts and the Ferrero philosophy of understated elegance.
His first book, Marketing Progetto 2000: La Gestione della Complessità (1990), was a prescient look at how to adapt to changing markets. It showed that he would be a good CEO. Next up was fiction: Stelle di Tenebra (Stars of Darkness, 1999, Mondadori) is a haunting story about existential drift in the shadows of family. It is similar to Giovanni’s own struggles with the burdens of legacy. Campo Paradiso (Rizzoli) brought back memories of the beautiful, sad places in rural Italy in 2007. His 2010 book Il Canto delle Farfalle (The Song of Butterflies, Rizzoli) is a beautiful meditation on change, using metamorphosis as a metaphor for both personal growth and business growth.
These books, which he wrote under his own name, don’t sell very well, but Italian writers love them for their simple language and deep philosophical ideas. Ferrero’s writing is like a private rebellion against the public eye, a place where the billionaire goes to deal with the fact that things don’t last. In a rare interview, he said, “Literature is my way of questioning the world beyond spreadsheets.” This shows how words can bring comfort in a life filled with sweets.
The Quiet Philanthropy and Legacy
Giovanni Ferrero has an impact that goes beyond making money. He is a fitness fanatic who has run marathons and triathlons and is a strong advocate for employee welfare at Ferrero. The company has family support programs and lifelong care, which helps build loyalty in an industry where people come and go. The Italian government named him Cavaliere del Lavoro (Knight of Labor), and he is a quiet patriot who guides Ferrero through economic storms with a steady hand.
Giovanni is married to Paola Rossi and has two kids with her. He lives in Monaco, where he keeps his privacy safe from the spotlight that eats up lesser tycoons. His charitable work, done through the Ferrero Foundation, supports education and nutrition programs around the world, which is a nod to the company’s beginnings in a time of scarcity after World War II.
As of October 2025, when Nutella turns 60, Giovanni Ferrero is a link between the past and the future: the creative ideas of his ancestors and a future that will last. His story, which is part sweet empire and part shadowed verse, reminds us that true wealth is found in balance in a time when fortunes come and go. Ferrero shows that even billionaires want the depth of a well-turned phrase, whether it’s spreading hazelnut joy or writing about human weakness.
