Leonardo Del Vecchio Dies at 87; Transformed Eyeglass Industry

Leonardo Del Vecchio, the Italian multibillionaire who rose from Dickensian poverty to build a globe-straddling behemoth that helped transform the stodgy, fragmented eyeglass industry into a fashion-oriented business, died on Monday in Milan. He was 87.

His death was

, now called EssilorLuxottica. No cause was given. A company spokeswoman said he had died at San Raffaele Hospital.

Although largely unnoticed outside of…