Maria Franca Fissolo: Widow of Ferrero SpA’s Owner
Maria Franca Fissolo is an Italian businesswoman with a net worth of $2 billion. She is the widow of Michele Ferrero, who owned Ferraro SpA, Europe’s second-largest confectionery company. The company includes popular brands such as Nutella, Ferrero Rocher, Mon Cheri, Kinder Chocolate, Kinder Eggs, and Tic Tacs. Maria and Michele had two sons together, Pietro and Giovanni, who became co-CEOs in 1987.
Despite its size, Ferrero SpA is known for being very secretive and private. For every 100 hazelnuts grown on earth, 15 of them will end up in a Ferrero product. The company has more than 70 affiliated companies, with 15 production plants and 22,000 employees worldwide.
Ferrero’s father, Pietro, started out during World War II setting up a lab to supply his wife’s pastry shop, and he created the spread Nutella due to rationed cocoa and the region’s plentiful supply of hazelnuts. Today, the company generates over $11 billion per year in revenue.
When David Rockefeller died at the age of 101 on March 20, 2017, Maria Franca Fissolo became the oldest billionaire in the world at 99.
