The matriarch of the Nutella family, valued at billions, passes away at 87 — despite her well-known avoidance of chocolate

13 February 2026 , 19:18

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The matriarch of the Nutella family, valued at billions, passes away at 87 — despite her well-known avoidance of chocolate

The billionaire heiress to the Ferrero chocolate empire has died.

Maria Franca Ferrero, wife of the late Michele Ferrero, has passed away aged 87 at her home in Alba, in the Piedmont region of Northern Italy, in the early hours of Thursday. Her husband, the creator of Nutella and Kinder, is credited with transforming his family’s small bakery in Alba into the global Ferrero confectionery group. The company was originally founded in 1946 by his father, Pietro Ferrero, and uncle, Giovanni Ferrero, to produce affordable chocolate products. 

The Ferrero Group produces Ferrero Rocher, Nutella, Kinder, Tic Tacs and over 30 other popular brands, sold in more than 170 countries. According to financial data released by the group, the company recorded a 4.6 per cent increase in revenue, reaching €19.3 billion as of 31 August 2025.

Maria Franca married Michele Ferrero in 1962 and the couple were together for 53 years until Mr Ferrero's death in 2015. In December last year, she was appointed honorary president for life of Ferrero International S.A., the group’s holding company, following a unanimously approved decision accompanied by a statutory amendment.

She also led the Ferrero Foundation, which provides Ferrero seniors and retirees in Alba, Villers-Écalles (France) and Stadtallendorf (Germany) with creative, recreational and social activities, as well as social and healthcare services. The foundation also awards national and international study scholarships to the children of current and former Ferrero employees.

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Mrs Ferrero was one of Italy's wealthiest women, with her personal fortune estimated at around €2.2 billion in recent international rankings. 

Mrs Ferrero was the mother of Giovanni Ferrero, the current chairman of the group. The late couple's firstborn, Pietro Ferrero, tragically died aged 47 in a cycling accident in South Africa in 2011. At the time of his death he was chairman of Ferrero and chief executive of Ferrero International S.A.. The then-foreign minister, Franco Frattini, described him as a "businessman of exceptional talent, gifted with strategic vision and deep sensibility" for Italy's overall interests.

James Turner