The death of the famous Italian designer Giorgio Armani gave birth to speculation about who will inherit his estimated wealth at $ 12.1 billion.
After launching his fashion house in 1975, Armani was still executive director, president, creative director and owner of an extended 23 billion euros that dominated the fashion industry, when he died on Thursday, at the age of 91, according to The Times.
Paola Pollo, fashion editor at Corriere della Sera in Italy, said: “He planned his death and put everything in writing, so that the empire remained intact. “
Armani said this in his 2022 autobiography: “I have prepared the succession plan with my usual pragmatism and discretion, but I will not reveal it now, because I am still alive. “
Image 1/14:
Giorgio Arani Photo Gettyimages died
Last year, he told Corriere della Sera that his plan “ar It should be followed by anyone who will come after me to continue my legacy. “
The details of the agreement were disclosed in 2023, revealing that the company could become public five years after its death. However, no indication of the leadership, from the list of family members from the Board of Directors, to Leo Dell’orco, his partner and head of the men’s design department, has emerged.
Giulia Crivelli, fashion editor at the Italian financial every 24 hours, said that it may not be as simple as waiting for the appointment of a successor in Armani’s will.
“This was a man who kept the total control over the company until the end and I think he did not prepare a successor-there is no real plan. The company was not listed on the stock market, so there was no mandatory governance in this regard. Look at Luxottica, the Italian producer of sunglasses. Three years after the founder’s death,”said the fashion editor.
Arani owned a Superyacht and Properties in Milan
In addition to the property on his company, Armani also bought a Superyacht and properties in Milan, on the Italian island of Pantelleria, in St Tropez, Manhattan and Antigua.
In an interview with the Financial Times shortly before his death, Armani spoke about a “Gradual transition” of power to Dell’Orco and his family, saying that “aI want the succession to be organic and not a moment of breaking ””suggesting that he intended to teach the reins during his life. Now his death brought “rupture“He hoped to avoid.
Anyone will take over the leadership will have a difficult task in rising to the height of a man described as a “legend” by the celebrities who paid him a tribute to him on Thursday, including Julia Roberts, Cindy Crawford and Victoria Beckham.
Anna Wintour, the editor-in-chief of American Vogue magazine, said: “Giorgio Armani had a personality and a vision so strong that you instantly recognized his work, wherever you met. “
Pollo said that Armani’s death was a moment “Exciting” for Italy. “He was the last of the great Italian fashion designers, and his death means that a generational change for Italian design is approaching, something that has already happened in France, but not here.”she said.
Why did he never leave Italy
Aldo Cazzullo, who interviewed Armani for Corriere della Sera last year, said: “Unlike many rich Italians, he never left Italy for tax reasons. He remained a resident here because he loved Italy.”
In the interview, Armani had words of praise for his colleagues Italian designers, such as Valentino and the late Gianni Versace, but was more circumspect Dolce & Gabbana, saying that “He looks at their creations and asks: would a woman wear something like that? But I see that it is changing now. “
Miuccia Prada, said that Armani, “He lives longer in the world Miuccia Prada than in the real world. She does not think about the fact that her dresses must be worn by normal women. ”
Cazzullo said that the interview was the first opportunity when Armani discussed his homosexuality. “No one ever asked. In Italy, people do not ask such questions ”he said.
“He tightened when I asked him and told me” How do you know I loved men? “, Then he relaxed and started talking.” Armani revealed that his first partner had been an instructor at a summer camp for young people. “I never told anyone about it. It is still a very exciting memory for me.”he said.
Last week, it was announced that Armani purchased in Capannina, a historical restaurant in the Italian resort of Forte Dei Marmi, where he met his long -term life and business partner, Sergio Galeotti, in the 1960s.
Galeotti died in 1985, at the age of 40, due to the complications caused by AIDS. “It was his last romantic gesture, a return to the place where it all started“Said Pollo.
