Michele Ferrero, the man behind famous chocolates such as Ferrero Rocher, Nutella, Kinder eggs and the sweets Tic Tacs has died at the age of 89 at his home in Monaco after months of illness.
Mr Ferrero’s son, Giovanni has taken over the family business as chief executive where they employ more than 22,000 staff and make sales of $8 billion (£5.9 billion) per year.
One of the brands, which is still going strong today, is the famous chocolate-hazelnut spread Nutella. The product was first developed in 1946 and the first commercial pot was put on the market in 1964. Nutella is now sold in 160 countries.
In a comment last year, Mr Ferrero’s son Giovanni told the BBC "My grandfather lived to find this formula. He was completely obsessed by it... he woke up my grandmother at midnight - she was sleeping - and he made her taste it with spoons, asking, 'How was it?' and 'What do you think?'"
Mr Ferrero’s family has been placed 30th on the list of wealthiest people with a fortune of $23.4 billion (£14.9 billion).
