Nutella has made history in space. A jar of the iconic chocolate-hazelnut spread floated in zero gravity aboard NASA’s Artemis II moon mission, capturing global attention. Behind this sweet success is Italian billionaire Giovanni Ferrero, the man who owns the Ferrero Group. With a net worth of $47.7 billion, he ranks as the 37th richest person in the world, according to Forbes.
The Ferrero Group, known for beloved brands like Ferrero Rocher, Kinder, and Tic Tac, has been expanding aggressively. In 2018, it acquired Nestlé’s entire US confectionery business for $2.8 billion. In 2025, the company made another major move, buying WK Kellogg, the maker of Corn Flakes and Rice Krispies, for $3.1 billion.
But who is Giovanni Ferrero?
Youngest son of the inventor of Nutella, Michelle Ferrero, Giovanni was born in 1964 in Italy. He attended the European School, a Belgian boarding school and then went on to study marketing at Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Pennsylvania, according to the National Italian American Foundation.
After graduating, he joined his father and brother in the family business. What once was a chocolate shop in Alba, scaled to the biggest confectionery business with a revenue of $18.2 billion in 2023. Brands under the Ferrero umbrella include Baby Ruth, Butterfinger, and Crunch candy bars; and Keebler, Famous Amos, and Little Brownie Bakers cookies.
Giovanni served as the co-CEO after his brother, Pietro, had an unfortunate heart attack in 2011, during a bicycling incident in South Africa. However, he now serves as the Executive Chairman of the group. Reports describe Giovanni as an unconventional billionaire who is the ‘more introverted’ of the Ferrero brothers.
Forbes’ Noah Kirsch described Ferrero as “thin, well-dressed, and with a disarming giggle,” with “more the air of a game-show host than a billionaire factory owner,” after interviewing him in June 2018.
A chocolate empire in Luxembourg
Today, the chocolate billionaire‘s base is found in Luxembourg, where he lives with his wife, Paola Rossi and two sons. The increasingly private billionaire has 25 major factories across the world. His private life remains largely hidden from the public eye, with limited details known. Reports, however, claim that his villa is located in the Brussels‑area municipality of Berchem‑Sainte‑Agathe, not a typical ‘billionaire’s lane’ in the area.
Today, the Ferrero Group employs over 40,000 people and makes 365,000 tons of Nutella per year, with sales across 160 countries in the world.