Italy’s Wealthiest Billionaire Ferrero Is Reported Dead.

Mr Ferrero who is fondly called “born entrepreneur” by the Italian President, died on Saturday at his

Monaco home after months of illness, according to

his company.



Mr Ferrero’s father, a pastry maker named Pietro, developed the forerunner to Nutella in 1946, called

Giandujot, combining a small amount of cocoa and lots of hazelnuts to make an affordable luxury at a time chocolate was expensive.



In a chat with BBC last year, Michele Ferrero’s son,

Giovanni disclosed that “My grandfather lived to find

this formula. He was completely obsessed by it… he woke up my grandmother at midnight – she was

sleeping – and he made her taste it with spoons, asking, ‘How was it?’ and ‘What do you think?’”



Michele Ferrero turned the paste into the Nutella now known the world over, produced in 11 factories and sold in 160 countries. The first pot was made in 1964.



The Ferrero group employs more than 22,000 workers and has sales per year of more than €8bn

(£5.9bn).



Forbes Magazine described Mr Ferrero as “the richest candyman on the planet”, putting him and his family in 30th place on their list of the world’s wealthiest people, with wealth of $23.4bn (£14.9bn).