Forget private billionaires, the real Scrooge McDuck of Piazza Affari is the State

Forget private billionaires: the real Scrooge McDuck on the stock market is the Italian state. According to the traditional August rankings compiled by Milano Finanza, the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), led by Giancarlo Giorgetti, sits on a stock market treasure of over €81 billion, up 26.7% compared to 2024, outperforming the FTSE MIB (+21%).

The public portfolio—worth approximately 8% of the entire Italian stock market, including EGM—and comprising both direct stakes and those held through CDP, was driven by the excellent performance of the Defense sector, with Leonardo (+121%) and Fincantieri (+225%) leading the way, in addition to the solid performances of Poste Italiane, Italgas, and Webuild.

THE TOP THREE PRIVATE MONEYMAKERS - Behind the public wealth of the Ministry of the Economy and Finance, the top three in the 2025 private rankings are: Del Vecchio Heirs - €51.5 billion (+31%), with 75% of their fortune tied to EssilorLuxottica and the remainder distributed among Generali, Mediobanca, Unicredit, Avio, Covivio, and MPS. The eight heirs—six natural children of Leonardo Del Vecchio, plus his second wife Nicoletta Zampillo and her son, Rocco Basilico—have an individual wealth of approximately €6.4 billion, but have still not been able to resolve their inheritance, more than three years after the death of Luxottica's founder. Francesco Milleri, CEO of Essilux and manager of Delfin, the heirs' holding company, also ranks high with a personal net worth of €140 million.

Rocca family - almost 10 billion (+7%), thanks to Tenaris, a global leader in the oil & gas sector.

Agnelli-Elkann family - down nearly 10%, penalized by the slowdown of Exor and Stellantis, the latter struggling with a profound global crisis in the auto sector. Specifically, John Elkann's stake is worth €2.3 billion, while the stake held by siblings Lapo and Ginevra is worth €755 million each.

Fourth place is occupied by Miuccia Prada and Patrizio Bertelli, who thus miss out on the podium (they were second in 2024) followed by Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone, Piero Ferrari, the Benetton family, the Stevanato family, the Doris-Tombolato family and, rounding out the top ten, the Buzzi family.