Giovanni Ferrero, executive chairman of the Italian confectionery group Ferrero, is ranked No. 41 on the Forbes 2026 World’s Billionaires list with a net worth of $48.8 billion.
Giovanni Ferrero was born on September 21, 1964, in Farigliano, Italy, the son of Maria Franca Fissolo and Michele Ferrero, who owned the confectionery company Ferrero.
Net Worth and Rank
- Forbes 2026 list: No. 41, with $48.8 billion
- Source of wealth: his family’s ownership of Ferrero, the maker of Nutella and Ferrero Rocher
Education
In 1975 he moved to Brussels, Belgium, where he studied at the European Schools. He then went to the United States and studied marketing at Lebanon Valley College.
Taking Over Ferrero
- 1997: he became joint chief executive of Ferrero with his brother Pietro
- April 2011: after Pietro died suddenly in South Africa, he became sole CEO, while his father stayed executive chairman
- 2015: his father Michele Ferrero died, and Giovanni took over as executive chairman
- 2017: after two years holding both roles, he hired Lapo Civiletti as CEO
Author
Ferrero has also written books, including a marketing study (1990) and the novels Stelle di tenebra (1999), Campo Paradiso (2007) and Il canto delle farfalle (2010).
Personal Life
He is married to Paola Rossi, and they have two sons. They live in Berchem-Sainte-Agathe, in the Brussels region.
Why It Matters
Ferrero is one of the largest confectionery groups in the world and is privately held, so the family’s wealth is an estimate rather than a stock-market price.
Net worth figures change daily with share prices. Rankings here follow the Forbes 2026 World’s Billionaires list, with wealth measured on March 1, 2026.
Image: Ferrero Rocher chocolates, one of the group’s best-known products (file photo, 2023; Giovanni Ferrero is not pictured). Photo: Jacek Halicki / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
