Luciano Benetton

Luciano Benetton was born on May 13, 1935 in Treviso, Italy, Italy. The Benetton clothing company traces it roots to Luciano Benetton, whose father died when he was 14. To help out his widowed mother and three siblings, Luciano started working at a clothing store in the war-ravaged city of Treviso, Italy. A bright yellow sweater knitted by his sister caught the attention of his colleagues. That and an eye-opening trip to Rome for the 1960 Olympics led him to found the Benetton Group in 1965 along with his siblings Giuliana, Gilberto, and Carlo. Focusing on bright colors, efficient production, and an unorthodox distribution model, Benetton slowly won over parts of the world, opening its first store outside Italy in Paris in 1969 and reaching New York in 1980. The Benetton Group hit some turbulence at the turn of the century amid falling demand for their colorful sweaters. His siblings convinced Luciano to take a step back and allow professional managers a greater role. In 2012, the family took the company private, and Luciano's son Alessandro took over as chairman, a post he held until 2014. In December 2016, Alessandro resigned from the group's board and is reportedly focused on expanding his private equity firm, 21 Investimenti, which he founded in 1992. Through holding company Edizione, the family has invested in a variety of Italian businesses, from highway concessions and real estate to newspaper publishing and banking. Each of the four Benetton siblings is a billionaire, thanks to the non-clothing investments.
Luciano Benetton is a member of Fashion and Retail