Francesco Vittorio Ambrosio (18 September 1932 – 15 April 2009) was a businessman from

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. He became a multi-millionaire through wheat trading, primarily for pasta production, and built up a large business empire. He was murdered in a robbery at his home near

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

in 2009.

Life

Francesco Vittorio Ambrosio was born on 18 September 1932 in San Gennarello, a neighbourhood close to

Mount Vesuvius Mount Vesuvius ( ) is a Somma volcano, somma–stratovolcano located on the Gulf of Naples in Campania, Italy, about east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is one of several volcanoes forming the Campanian volcanic arc. Vesuv ...

in the

Ottaviano Ottaviano (; known until 1933 as Ottaiano in Italian) is a (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Naples in the Italian region of Campania, located about east of Naples and is located in the Vesuvian Area. Ottaviano was in Roman times a h ...

frazione A ''frazione'' (: ''frazioni'') is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' ('municipality') in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidat ...

'' of

. At the age of 18 he joined a wheat milling business near Naples which he rose to lead within 10 years. He renamed the business Italgrani

SpA A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa health treatments are known as balneotherapy. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters and hot springs goes back to pre ...

in 1960. Its huge financial growth led to his nickname 'the king of grain' (Italian: ''il re del grano''). Italgrani expanded rapidly in the 1980s into Africa, Australia, and the United States. Ambrosio created a holding company comprising up to 50 companies, importing and exporting various commodities. The businesses gradually unravelled in the 1990s following his involvement in the financial scandal. He declared the Italgrani company bankrupt in 1999. Parts of Italgrani survived bankruptcy and were sold to new owners. A friend of the politician

Paolo Cirino Pomicino Paolo Cirino Pomicino (born 3 September 1939) is an Italian politician, who was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in the 2006 Italian general election representing the Christian Democracy for Autonomies. Biography Pomicino was born in Naples. ...

, Ambrosio was included in investigations into possible conspiracy to defraud that involved

Campania Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...

criminal organisations, politicians and entrepreneurs.

Death

On the morning of 15 April 2009 his eldest son Massimo discovered the dead bodies of Ambrosio and his wife Giovanna Sacco in their seaside villa in

Posillipo Posillipo (; ) is an affluent residential quarter of Naples, southern Italy, located along the northern coast of the Gulf of Naples. From the 1st century BC the Bay of Naples witnessed the rise of villas constructed by elite Romans along the mo ...

. The cause of death was determined to be injuries to the head from a blunt object. There were signs of a robbery: a broken window, possessions scattered and valuables missing. The next day three Romanian immigrants, including one who had worked as his gardener, were arrested and charged with murder.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ambrosio, Franco 1932 births 2009 deaths Businesspeople from Naples People murdered in Campania 20th-century Italian businesspeople Deaths by beating in Italy