Giovanni Ferrero

Giovanni Ferrero
Born	21 9 1964 (age 62 years old (as of 2026) ) Turin, Italy
Occupation	businessman, novelist
Known for	Executive chairman of the Ferrero Group
Education	Lebanon Valley College (marketing studies; honorary doctorate 2022)

Italian businessman and novelist; executive chairman of the confectionery group Ferrero

Giovanni Ferrero (born 21 September 1964) is an Italian businessman and novelist. He is executive chairman of the Ferrero Group, the family confectionery company best known for Nutella, Kinder and Tic Tac.^[1]^[2] On 20 October 2026 the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires list ranked Giovanni Ferrero 42nd in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$46.46 billion; Forbes lists the source of wealth as Nutella, chocolates.^[1]^[3] In the annual World's Billionaires list published in 2026, Forbes had ranked Giovanni Ferrero 41st, at US$48.8 billion.^[4]

Note on identity: this profile concerns the confectionery executive born in 1964. Material about other people of the same name has deliberately been left out.

Early life and education

Ferrero was born in Turin and spent his early years in Italy, then moved with his family to Brussels, where he went to the European School. In 1980 he spent six months studying marketing at Lebanon Valley College in Pennsylvania, which gave him an honorary doctorate in 2022.^[5] His publisher, Salani, says he also holds a degree in food science.^[6]

Business career

After his studies Ferrero joined the family company's marketing department in Germany. In 1992 he became head of Ferrero Overseas, building the business outside Europe, and in 1997 he became chief executive of Ferrero International.^[5] Forbes reports that he was co-CEO with his brother Pietro until Pietro's death in 2011, and that in 2017 he gave up the chief executive role to become executive chairman, concentrating on strategy.^[1]^[5]

Under his leadership Ferrero has made a series of acquisitions: Thorntons (UK, 2015), Delacre (Belgium, 2016), Ferrara (US, 2017), Nestlé's US confectionery business (2018), Kelsen (Denmark, 2019), the Keebler and Famous Amos cookie brands, Fox's Biscuits (2020), Burton's Biscuits and Eat Natural (2021).^[5] Forbes puts the Nestlé deal at US$2.8 billion.^[1] In September 2025 Ferrero completed its acquisition of the US cereal maker WK Kellogg Co for US$23 a share in cash; Forbes values the deal at US$3.1 billion.^[7]^[1] For the year to 31 August 2025 the group, through its holding company Ferrero International S.A., reported turnover of €19.3 billion and 48,697 employees. It credited the "long-term strategic vision" of Executive Chairman Giovanni Ferrero, with Lapo Civiletti as chief executive.^[2]

Writing

Ferrero has published eight books: a marketing text, Marketing Project 2000, and novels including Stelle di tenebra (1999), Il giardino di Adamo (2003), Campo Paradiso (2007), Il cacciatore di luce (2015) and Blu di Prussia e rosso porpora (2021).^[5]^[6]

Wealth

Forbes gives the source of his wealth as Nutella and chocolates, and says the family business has about US$20 billion in annual sales.^[1]

Wealth history

Forbes has included this entry in its annual World's Billionaires list in 9 of the editions from 2001 to 2026 checked for this profile, starting with 2018. The table gives the rank and estimated net worth in each annual list.^[4]^[1]

Forbes estimates by list year
Year	World's Billionaires rank	Net worth (US$ bn)
2018	37	23.0
2019	39	22.4
2020	32	24.5
2021	40	35.1
2022	36	36.2
2023	30	38.9
2024	26	43.8
2025	41	38.2
2026	41	48.8

Philanthropy

The Piera, Pietro and Giovanni Ferrero Foundation was set up in 1983 as the "Ferrero Social Initiative" and became a recognised foundation in 1991. It is chaired by Maria Franca Ferrero and its community centres on the company's retired employees, the "Ferrero Seniors". It is named after earlier family members, not specifically after the subject of this profile.^[8] No other personal philanthropy by Giovanni Ferrero was documented in the sources checked.

Political activity and honours

Salani reports that in 2025 Ferrero received the Premio Leonardo, an award given by the Presidency of the Italian Council of Ministers.^[6] No party donations or political roles were found in the sources checked.

Controversies and legal issues

In December 2019 The Guardian reported claims by campaigners that children as young as 11 might be working on Turkish farms in Ferrero's hazelnut supply chain. The paper said Turkey supplied roughly 30% of the hazelnuts Ferrero uses. Ferrero told the paper it was "determined to prevent and eliminate child labour all along our supply chains".^[9] No legal proceedings against Ferrero personally were found.

International and political links

This section uses the same ten headings for every profile in this series. Only specific, sourced actions are included; company-level and foundation-level actions are labelled as such. Where nothing was found, the entry reads "No documented involvement found in sources checked."