Leonardo Del Vecchio

MILAN – Enrico Cavatorta, named co-CEO of Luxottica Group S.p.A. (NYSE: LUX; MTA: LUX) six weeks ago in the wake of the departure of Andrea Guerra as CEO and the announcement of a new management structure, has “expressed his intention to resign,” according to a statement Luxottica released late Sunday, Oct. 12.

Luxottica said a meeting of its board of directors has been called for today. The company’s chairman, Leonardo Del Vecchio, will propose, the statement said, that the board appoint Massimo Vian, current chief operations officer, to become the co-CEO for Operations and Product “and entrust him, on an interim basis, with responsibility for Corporate Functions and Markets. If approved, all business functions and related responsibilities will consequently be under the exclusive responsibility of the two co-CEOs.

Cavatorta, a 15-year Luxottica executive, most recently general manager and CFO of the Group, was appointed CEO of Corporate Functions on Sept. 1. He was also named as Interim CEO of Markets until a person is named to that new post and the two were to function as co-CEOs with Del Vecchio’s involvement as executive chairman. A few days after that announcement, Cavatorta told VMail the company’s strategy was “on track.”

In its statement Sunday, Luxottica said it “confirms that the search process for a co-CEO for Markets is progressing, based on a high profile list of candidates. In light of the solid results achieved also in the third quarter, Luxottica is in a position to take the necessary time to execute this search, in order to ensure that the best decision is made for the company,” its statement said.

Luxottica added that chairman Del Vecchio also announced that “a reorganization of Delfin S.a.r.l., the majority shareholder of Luxottica, which “ is being examined with the aim of improving its governance and further separating ownership from the management of its portfolio companies.”

Leonardo Del Vecchio also said that “the appointment of Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio [aged 20] to the board has never been considered and that current director, Claudio Del Vecchio, will not be reappointed following the natural expiration of his mandate on the board” (which occurs upon approval of the year-end 2014 results, in early spring 2015, a spokesperson said) in order “to give consistency and coherence to the positions of all members of the family.”

With the opening of the European stock markets this morning, Luxottica’s share price fell as much as 10 percent to €36.86 at midday, Italian time, according to Italian financial posts.