Leonardo Del Vecchio spent years designing a governance structure to protect his business empire after his death. But the safeguards he put in place are now paralysing the €55bn holding company Delfin at the heart of the family fortune, as a dispute among his heirs divides the board.

After Del Vecchio’s death in 2022, ownership of Delfin was divided into eight equal stakes held by his six children, his widow and her son. Shareholders have since argued over dividends, executive pay, and the future of the group’s portfolio. The depth of the deadlock became clear in June when Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio sought the board’s backing to buy out two siblings’ stakes to take his own holding to 37.5%.

Delfin chief executive Romolo Bardin opposed the bid, while chair Francesco Milleri supported it. Leonardo Maria’s failure to gain board backing ended his attempt to become dominant shareholder. The disputes have reached courtrooms in Italy and Luxembourg. The deadlock limits Delfin's ability to deploy capital or play the activist role that shaped Italy's financial agenda.

“This has important knock-on effects across Italian capitalism as a whole,” said Alfredo De Massis, professor of entrepreneurship at IMD. For corporate Italy, the question is whether one of its pivotal investors can recover the authority to make long-term choices.