Aldo Gucci Net Worth: Aldo Gucci was an Italian-American businessman who had a net worth of $50 million at the time of his death in 1990. That’s equivalent to $100 million in today’s dollars, adjusted for inflation. He was best known as the chairman of Gucci and as the son of the company’s founder, Guccio Gucci.

Aldo Gucci passed away on January 19, 1990 at the age of 84. During his life he maintained residences in New York City, Palm Beach, Beverly Hills, London, Paris and Rome.

After his death, Aldo Gucci left half of his fortune to his wife Bruna and the other half to his daughter Patricia in his will. The will was challenged by Gucci’s former wife, Olwen, who was the mother of three of his children. There was a big problem, because there were no court records of Bruna and Aldo’s marriage. Olwen claimed the will was “made through fraud” and not valid because the two were not legally married.

Tax Issues and Legacy: In the early 1980s, Aldo faced serious difficulties with the US tax authorities. He allegedly evaded $7 million in US taxes. At that time he was 81 years old. The IRS found out about the tax evasion thanks to Aldo’s nephew, who was still furious over the perfume debacle and other family disputes. He was sentenced to one year in prison. Aldo was serving his sentence in a federal detention center at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.

For his defense, Aldo hired a young Italian-American attorney named Domenico De Sole. Aldo was so impressed with Domenico’s work that he hired him to run Gucci America, Inc. Domenico discovered a young American designer named Tom Ford who would later become one of the most important figures in the fashion world. Domenico also clashed with Aldo’s nephew Maurizio Gucci, who ran the parent company in Italy. Maurizio had taken over the family business in Italy when Aldo went to prison and after his father Rodolfo died.

In the late 1980s, a Bahraini investment company called Investcorp acquired 50% of Gucci. In 1994, Investcorp acquired the other 50%. In total, Investcorp paid $400 million for its 100% stake. At this point, Investcorp fired Maurizio and hired Domenico to run the entire company. Domenico’s first step was to make Tom Ford the company’s chief designer. In 1993 the company lost $22 million. In 1995, the company had a profit of $83 million on sales of $500 million. Today, Gucci generates annual sales of over 10 billion dollars.

In 1995, Investcorp separated from Gucci through an IPO and private sale. Overall, the company made a $2 billion profit on the $400 million investment.