Francesco Milleri Net Worth: 2025 Salary And Equity Facts

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Aug 07, 2025

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Francesco Milleri is the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of EssilorLuxottica, a global leader in eyewear and optical innovation. He is best known for guiding the strategic merger of Essilor and Luxottica, creating one of the world’s most influential vision care companies (essilorluxottica.com). Milleri has led the company since 2020 and has been associated with Luxottica since 2014. His leadership is recognized for driving growth, digital transformation, and global expansion in the eyewear sector.

Early Life

Francesco Milleri was born in 1959 in Città di Castello, a town in the Umbria region of central Italy¹. He earned a law degree with honors (laurea in giurisprudenza) from the University of Florence. He later pursued a Master of Business Administration (MBA) at Bocconi University in Milan, graduating with high merit. In 1987, he received the Donato Menichella scholarship from the Bank of Italy, which allowed him to attend a two-year program in corporate finance at the Stern School of Business at New York University.

Estimated Net Worth	Between $150 million and $180 million (as of 2025)
Total Salary (2024)	Approx. €23 million (base: ~€2M + bonuses and stock awards)
Position	CEO & Chairman, EssilorLuxottica
Company Ownership	~0.12% of EssilorLuxottica shares
Years with Company	Joined Luxottica in 2014; CEO since 2020
Industry	Eyewear, Vision Care, Global Retail

Early Career

Francesco Milleri’s professional journey began far from the boardroom of the world’s largest eyewear company. He earned a law degree with honors at the University of Florence and went on to obtain an MBA from Bocconi University in 1987. Further honing his business acumen, he spent two years at NYU’s Stern School of Business on a prestigious Bank of Italy scholarship. Armed with this education, Milleri launched his career in 1988 as a business consultant, advising various Italian and multinational firms across industries. In 1996, alongside his consulting work, he founded a group of tech companies focused on digital automation solutions, which he successfully led for the next two decades. This blend of IT expertise and strategic consulting defined Milleri’s early career and set the stage for his entry into the eyewear industry’s top ranks.

Milleri’s first connection with Luxottica, the Italian eyewear giant founded by Leonardo Del Vecchio, came through his digital consultancy work. By the mid-2000s, he was helping digitize Luxottica’s business processes, earning the trust of Del Vecchio. His technology background and strategic insight made him a valued external adviser. Del Vecchio, impressed by Milleri’s contributions, invited him to take on a permanent role within Luxottica. In March 2016, Milleri joined Luxottica’s board of directors and was appointed Vice-President (deputy chairman) just a month later. In this capacity, he was tasked with helping and assisting Del Vecchio in running the company. This appointment marked Milleri’s transition from consultant to corporate leader, as he became the billionaire founder’s close confidant and right-hand man.

Career Growth & Key Roles

Francesco Milleri’s influence at Luxottica grew rapidly. By December 2017, he took on the role of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Luxottica, following the departure of then-CEO Massimo Vian. This move effectively concentrated Luxottica’s leadership in the hands of Del Vecchio as Executive Chairman and Milleri as CEO, streamlining decision-making at the top. Milleri’s elevation to CEO of Luxottica underscored the trust Del Vecchio placed in him to guide the company’s operations and strategy. Together, they prepared Luxottica for a transformative merger on the horizon.

In 2017–2018, Milleri played a pivotal role in negotiating the merger between Italy’s Luxottica and France’s Essilor, a €46 billion deal that would create EssilorLuxottica, the world’s largest eyewear and vision-care group. Milleri was deeply involved in the merger talks and planning, leveraging his dual expertise in strategy and technology. The combination was finalized in October 2018, and Del Vecchio signaled his confidence in Milleri’s leadership by publicly proposing him as the future CEO of the merged entity. At the time of the merger, governance was split between the Italian and French sides, with Del Vecchio and Essilor’s CEO Hubert Sagnières sharing power for an initial period. Nonetheless, Milleri remained central to the new company’s integration. From January 2017 onward, he worked closely with Essilor’s teams (led by Paul du Saillant) on post-merger synergy plans. His efforts were instrumental in uniting the two businesses’ operations and cultures.

By late 2020, EssilorLuxottica’s initial governance hurdles had been resolved in Milleri’s favor. On December 17, 2020, the EssilorLuxottica board granted executive powers to Milleri, appointing him as the Chief Executive Officer of the combined group (with Paul du Saillant as Deputy CEO). This leadership change came after the French side’s executive vice-chairman retired, and Del Vecchio voluntarily stepped back from executive duties to preserve balance. Milleri’s appointment was initially meant to be interim until the next shareholder meeting. However, his position quickly solidified. In May 2021, shareholders confirmed Francesco Milleri as the permanent CEO of EssilorLuxottica, cementing the leadership structure that Del Vecchio had envisioned. The company’s new board, appointed that year, featured Del Vecchio as Chairman and Milleri as CEO, a clear endorsement of Milleri’s role and a move that would cement the influence of top investor Leonardo Del Vecchio.

A year later, Milleri’s responsibilities expanded further. After Leonardo Del Vecchio passed away in June 2022, the EssilorLuxottica board appointed Francesco Milleri as Chairman of the Board on June 28, 2022, in addition to retaining him as CEO. This dual role placed Milleri at the helm of both management and governance of the €70 billion eyewear empire. Around the same time, he was also entrusted with carrying on Del Vecchio’s broader business legacy. Milleri was named Chairman of Delfin S.à.r.l., the Del Vecchio family’s holding company, which controls a major stake in EssilorLuxottica and other investments. In announcing Milleri’s new role at Delfin, the holding company acknowledged him as Del Vecchio’s most trusted aide and signaled continuity in strategy under his leadership. By mid-2022, Milleri had thus ascended to the top leadership positions of both EssilorLuxottica and Delfin, completing his rise from an outside IT consultant to the chief steward of a global eyewear empire.

Major Achievements

As a leader, Francesco Milleri has overseen significant achievements and strategic moves that have shaped EssilorLuxottica’s trajectory. One of the early milestones under his stewardship was the successful integration of Essilor and Luxottica into a cohesive company. Despite initial governance tensions between the French and Italian partners, Milleri’s management helped align the merged group’s vision. By focusing on the company’s mission and leveraging the complementary strengths of the two legacy firms, he accelerated the delivery of merger synergies. Industry observers note that after Milleri took charge, EssilorLuxottica entered a period of stability and growth, fulfilling Del Vecchio’s plan for a vertically integrated eyewear powerhouse. In fact, since Milleri assumed full leadership, EssilorLuxottica’s market capitalization has more than doubled, exceeding €125 billion by 2025, a testament to improved performance and investor confidence under his guidance.

Under Milleri’s leadership, EssilorLuxottica also completed a major expansion of its retail footprint. In July 2021, the company finalized the €7.3 billion acquisition of GrandVision, a large optical retail chain operating in over 40 countries. This acquisition, initiated before the COVID-19 pandemic, was seen through to completion on Milleri’s watch. Milleri emphasized its strategic importance, stating that after years of effort we are now ready to turn a page and start a new chapter of EssilorLuxottica’s history, with GrandVision. He noted that expanding the group’s retail network would allow the company to engage more directly with consumers and raise the visibility and quality of the entire industry, benefiting all stakeholders. Integrating GrandVision’s 37,000 employees and hundreds of stores was a significant operational challenge, but one that Milleri and his team undertook to strengthen EssilorLuxottica’s global reach in eyewear distribution.

Recent Developments

In recent years, Francesco Milleri has continued to expand EssilorLuxottica’s global influence while navigating a rapidly evolving market. As Chairman and CEO, he led the company to strengthen its partnership with Meta Platforms through a new multi-year agreement, signaling a long-term commitment to developing next-generation smart eyewear. By 2023, the second generation of Ray-Ban smart glasses was introduced, and EssilorLuxottica positioned itself as a key player in what many predict will be a booming smart-glasses sector. Milleri’s close collaboration with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, even working directly with him on the product’s development, reflects his collaborative approach to innovation. He asserts that only a collaborative model, a networked company, can maintain leadership in innovation and technology, emphasizing the importance of strategic alliances in staying ahead. This approach has helped EssilorLuxottica remain at the cutting edge of tech and fashion convergence.

At the same time, Milleri has overseen EssilorLuxottica’s involvement in broader business ventures. In 2022, upon taking charge of Delfin, Milleri became a significant figure in Italian finance due to Delfin’s sizeable investments in banking and real estate. Under his stewardship, Delfin supported a major banking deal that saw Banca MPS acquire a stake in Mediobanca, with Delfin emerging as the merged bank’s largest shareholder. This move demonstrated Milleri’s ability to influence industries beyond eyewear, carrying on Del Vecchio’s assertive investment strategy in the financial sector. However, Milleri’s primary focus remains on EssilorLuxottica’s core mission of helping people see more, be more and live life to its fullest, as the company often states. In late 2022 and 2023, the company opened flagship stores in key markets and pushed further into e-commerce, reflecting Milleri’s drive to enhance both the physical retail experience and digital presence of the group.

Looking ahead, Milleri continues to steer EssilorLuxottica with a blend of technological vision and operational excellence. He has articulated a future where eyewear is central to various aspects of life, from healthcare to entertainment, envisioning wearable computing that integrates with home automation, driving, and wellness applications. As of 2025, EssilorLuxottica enjoys robust financial health and innovation pipelines under Milleri’s leadership. Analysts often point out that Milleri, once an outsider with IT expertise, has proven to be the ideal successor to Del Vecchio’s legacy, combining respect for the company’s roots with bold expansions into new frontiers. With his steady hand on the tiller, EssilorLuxottica is poised to remain a global optical industry leader in the years to come, validating Francesco Milleri’s career-long journey from consultant to visionary CEO.