Leonardo Del Vecchio

In 2011, I was the 71st richest man in the world. Believe it or not, I grew up fatherless and in an orphanage, since my mother could not support her five children. At the age of 14, I became an apprentice for a tool manufacturer, where I had my first experience with eyewear. After I moved to the eyewear capital of Italy, I founded a glasses company that later grew into Luxottica, which globally dominates the manufacturing of eyewear and owns countless stores and brands, such as Lenscrafters, Sunglass Hut, Ray-Ban, and Oakley. I went from rags to riches, from a penniless child to a billionaire, and all because I lived in a capitalist society that allowed me to benefit from my hard work. Oh the places you'll go with capitalism!