The Ferrero Group, the Italian candy giant that was just in the news for its $3.1 billion WK Kellogg acquisition, is still one of the world’s largest family-run firms. Giovanni Ferrero is Executive Chairman of the Ferrero Group, and the final owner of this sugar empire that has dominated global markets with such brands as Nutella, Kinder, and Ferrero Rocher.
The Ferrero Dynasty: Three generations of success
Ferrero history is a three-generation tale of the same Italian family. Pietro Ferrero began the company in Alba, Italy, in 1946 as a small candy shop that utilized hazelnuts to extend the scarce cocoa during World War II. This innovative approach provided the birth of Pasta Gianduja, the initial Nutella, and provided the foundation of what would be an international candy empire.
Pietro Ferrero’s son, Michele Ferrero, transformed the tiny family business into a global behemoth with the addition of legendary brands such as Nutella in 1964, Kinder chocolates, and Ferrero Rocher during the 1980s. Michele was a perfectionist and imaginative individual, so much so that his friends called him “the scientist” due to his dogged experimentation with new textures and flavors.
Giovanni Ferrero, born Sept. 21, 1964, is the third-generation family leader. He graduated from Lebanon Valley College in Pennsylvania with a degree in marketing and later co-CEO’d the family business alongside his brother Pietro Jr. in 1997. The power dynamics within the family were drastically altered in 2011 when Pietro Jr. was killed in a bicycle accident while riding in South Africa at age 47, leaving Giovanni as the sole leader of the company.
Giovanni Ferrero: Italy’s richest man
Giovanni Ferrero’s net worth is put at $43.8 billion by Forbes, which ranks him as the world’s 26th richest and Italy’s richest man. His fortune lies in owning the Ferrero Group through the Luxembourg-based holding company Ferrero International.
Ferrero Group is today one of the global leaders of sweet-packaged food groups with more than 35 brands available in over 170 countries. The group has 38 trading companies, 18 factories, and more than 47,000 employees operating across the globe. The revenues of the group in 2024 were in excess of €18 billion, a reflection of the massive size of this family business.
Strategic leadership and corporate structure
With the help of the company appointing Lapo Civiletti as CEO in 2017, the first outsider executive to occupy the position, Executive Chairman Giovanni Ferrero can be assisted. This is a tactical move that allows Giovanni to focus on long-term strategy and acquisitions as Civiletti focuses on day-to-day operations.
The Ferrero family keeps their fingers on the pulse of the company through their ownership structure, with Giovanni as the senior most family member and board member of the family-held holding company. It may be a giant multinational company, but Ferrero is privately held, and this enables the family to keep their secretive business model and long-term strategic focus in place.
The Kellogg acquisition: A strategic masterstroke
Ferrero’s $3.1 billion purchase of WK Kellogg is its biggest deal to date and one of its biggest moves into the US breakfast cereal market. Ferrero will take over WK Kellogg at $23 per share under the terms of the deal, purchasing well-known brands such as Frosted Flakes, Froot Loops, Special K, and Rice Krispies.
This is just one of the many aggressive growth moves of Giovanni Ferrero, who has turned the company from a conservative European chocolate manufacturer into a global food group conglomerate. In ten years, since he took over, Giovanni has invested more than $13 billion in acquiring firms, buying at least 19 firms in eight nations.
Breaking family traditions through acquisitions
Giovanni Ferrero’s management approach is quite the opposite of his traditional family business mindset. The Ferrero family had avoided acquisitions and trusted only in organic growth and in-house product innovation for nearly 70 years. Giovanni’s father Michele would never have sanctioned some of these acquisitions, especially diversifying into sugar confectionery through the acquisition of Ferrara Candy Company.
The acquisition strategy has been highly successful, with some significant purchases like Nestlé’s United States confectionery unit for $2.8 billion in 2018, Wells Enterprises (Blue Bunny ice cream) for an undisclosed price, and some other strategic acquisitions. Such acquisitions have taken Ferrero to be the third-largest U.S. confectionary company.
