Piazza Affari: The Del Vecchio heirs are the "big shots" of the stock market, but the state remains the richest in Italy.

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 treasure trove of over 81 billion euros , 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 which includes 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 FIRST THREE PRIVATE MONEYMAKERS - Behind the public wealth of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the podium of the 2025 private rankings sees: 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 the inheritance, more than three years after the death of the Luxottica founder. Francesco Milleri, CEO of Essilux and manager of Delfin, the heirs' holding company, is also in the ranking with a personal capitalization of €140 million.

The Rocca family climbs from third to second place in the Italian wealth rankings, with assets close to 10 billion euros , thanks to the performance of Tenaris , a global leader in the oil & gas sector, which recorded a 7% increase.

Conversely, the Agnelli-Elkann family's wealth has declined by 10%, penalized by Exor 's slowdown and the auto market crisis affecting Stellantis . Specifically, John Elkann 's share is €2.3 billion , while siblings Lapo and Ginevra each own €755 million .

Miuccia Prada and Patrizio Bertelli drop to fourth place, thus losing the podium after having been second in 2024. They are followed in the ranking by Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone, Piero Ferrari, the Benetton and Stevanato families, the Doris-Tombolatos , until closing the top ten with the Buzzi family.