| Net Worth: | $50 Million |
|---|---|
| Profession: | Businessman |
| Date of Birth: | May 26, 1905 |
| Country: | United States of America |
About Aldo Gucci
Aldo and his brothers Rodolfo and Vasco visited New York City in 1952. Only two weeks before their father passed away, they launched the first store outside of Italy in New York City. He then franchised his business model internationally, opening locations in Tokyo, Hong Kong, and cities across the globe. His initial locations were in Chicago, Palm Beach, and Beverly Hills.
With Ingrid Bergman’s bamboo handbag prominently displayed in Roberto Rossellini’s 1954 film Journey to Italy, Gucci became an instant status symbol. Hollywood A-listers and European nobility quickly took a shine to the GG emblem. Aldo started working for Gucci full-time at the age of twenty. And in 1938, he opened the first store anywhere but Florence, in Rome.
He worked tirelessly on growing Gucci for nearly 30 years, eventually making it a vertically integrated firm that owned its own tanneries, factories, and stores.
On May 26, 1905, Aldo Gucci was born in Florence to a family with roots in the Tuscan village of San Miniato that date back to the 1300s. An early fascination with horses and plants led to a lifelong love of gardening and a career in product design. When he was sixteen, he started helping out at his father’s first shop on via della Vigna Nuova in Florence.
Aldo Gucci was the firstborn son of Guccio Gucci, who established the eponymous fashion house in 1921. On the 22nd of August 1927, he wed Olwen Price, and the couple produced three sons: Giorgio, Paolo, and Roberto. After his brother Vasco Gucci passed away in 1974, he and his nephew Rodolfo split the company evenly.
Based on Sara Gay Forden’s 2001 nonfiction book The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed, Ridley Scott will helm the 2021 American historical crime drama film House of Gucci. In the film, Lady Gaga and Adam Driver play lovers whose romance turns into a power struggle over the Gucci design house in Italy. Al Pacino, Salma Hayek, Jack Huston, Jeremy Irons, and Jared Leto also make appearances.
It was the opinion of Aldo’s sons, however, that Rodolfo had not done enough to aid in the development of the company. Aldo set up a perfume subsidiary, with himself and his three sons owning 80% of the company, in an effort to boost his revenues. Family strife erupted from this initial rivalry.
Aldo Gucci spent a year and a day in prison in January 1986 for tax evasion related to a $7 million tax bill he failed to pay to the New York State Treasury. At the time of his sentencing, he was 81 years old. At the Federal Prison Camp in Eglin, he did his term.
Aldo sold his shares of Gucci to Investcorp the year before he passed away, in 1989. During that same year, after nearly six years of court battle for control over Gucci, Maurizio was named chairman of the Gucci group. Maurizio’s resume was notably lacking in the business department. The Gucci family’s long history with the company came to an end in that year when Maurizio Gucci quit and sold his remaining part to Investcorp.
