Keeping it in the family

Patriarchs are reluctant to cede control of the companies they built

RAISED in an orphanage, Leonardo Del Vecchio started selling spectacles in Belluno in northernItalyin 1967. Today his company, Luxottica, owns Ray-Ban and Oakley, the two biggest brands of sunglasses, and has annual sales of 7.3 billion Aged 79, Mr Del Vecchio isItaly's second-richest man. He stepped back from management a decade ago. But on September 1st he abruptly stepped back in. Andrea Guerra, Luxottica's boss, has left. Mr Del Vecchio will head the triumvirate that will replace him.

Smooth handovers are hard to arrange, especially at fashion houses, which struggle to break free from the geniuses who created them. Giorgio Armani, now 80 (pictured, left), has no known succession plan for the company that bears his name. Roberto Cavalli, a designer of slightly younger vintage, has so far failed to find someone to take over. The brand's two most senior non-family managers left in January. A deal to sell his firm to Permira, a private-equity investor, fell apart. Now he is trying to sell a majority stake to VTB, a Russian state-controlled bank, despite VTB being among the firms subject to Western sanctions overRussia's involvement inUkraine.

Mr Guerra had to go, said Mr Del Vecchio, because his views on the firm's strategy had “diverged” from his own. Mr Guerra had expanded Luxottica globally and doubled its profits, though its retail chains, Sunglass Hut and LensCrafters, had not done as well as expected.

Mr Del Vecchio says he has no plans to hand the management of the firm to his children. If his motives in shaking up Luxottica's management are indeed primarily financial, minority shareholders will cheer. If they are familial, they will be sceptical, even though some Italian firms are thriving under second- and third-generation bosses. Ermenegildo Zegna, an upmarket tailor, is well-run by the founder's grandson. Michele Ferrero, a confectioner who isItaly's richest man, has handed to his son the job of selling Nutella and Tic Tacs.

Perhaps Mr Del Vecchio could take inspiration from Hermes, a French luxury-goods house that has gone from family to professional management and back without visible strain. Its pedigreed boss, Axel Dumas, took over in February after eight years of management by an outsider. On September 3rd he settled a row with LVMH, a rival that had built a large stake in his company. LVMH now says it will distribute those shares to its shareholders, ending the threat of a hostile bid. Mr Dumas had feared for Hermes's independence, and perhaps for his job. He now looks secure. Mr Del Vecchio must be hoping for an equally sunny outcome.