Latest News Luxottica Board Names New CFO, Officially Confirms Its Two Co-CEOs By Staff Friday, October 31, 2014 12:24 AM MILAN, Italy—Against the backdrop of a strong third fiscal quarter, which saw increases in the company’s retail and wholesale division, worldwide and, particularly, in North America, Luxottica Group (NYSE:LUX) said Wednesday that its board of directors, upon the chairman Leonardo Del Vecchio’s recent proposal, entrusted Massimo Vian, on an interim basis, with all executive responsibilities until former P&G exec Adil Mehboob-Khan officially joins Luxottica as co-CEO, markets in January 2015, as reported by VMail. When Mehboob-Khan comes in, Vian will assume the role of co-CEO of products and operations for the group. In addition, the board appointed Stefano Grassi as Luxottica Group’s new chief financial officer. Grassi, most recently financial controller, will work with the two co-CEOs. Grassi, who has been with the company for five years, succeeds Enrico Cavatorta, who officially resigns today, following his decision to depart a few weeks ago after having been named co-CEO which also took place after the departure of former CEO Andrea Guerra and the announcement of a new management structure in early September. Luxottica founder and chairman, Leonardo Del Vecchio, who initially reassumed an interim executive role amidst the initial senior management changes, moved back to a non-executive role in early October. On a conference call with financial analysts on Oct 29, Vian emphasized that the upcoming new co-CEO structure, with him overseeing products and operations while Mehboob-Khan focuses on markets and the two sharing corporate functions, “will allow us to leverage all the strengths of Luxottica” in the future. He said, “We are growing consistently and see opportunities ahead. Innovation is part of our DNA and will be a core part of what we do.” In terms of his priorities, Vian said, in response to an analyst’s question, “We are staying focused on our planning for 2015 and we are focused on the budget process now. We look forward to the debut of Michael Kors in January, and we are busy coordinating the Google Glass launch, which will happen sometime in the early part of 2015. We are of course looking forward for Adil to join us, but we are not planning to make any substantial changes in our overall strategic direction.” Vian also said the company was “not putting merger or acquisition activity on hold,” in response to another query. “We are observing the market,” he said, “and always are looking for opportunities to strengthen our brand portfolio or retail channels. We continue to scout in the market and we have ambitions there. It’s part of the DNA of our company and we have no reason to be any more or less cautious in this regard compared to the past.”