Leandro P. "Lee" Rizzuto (April 10, 1938 – December 3, 2017) was an American billionaire businessman, and the chairman and co-founder of Conair Corporation, which was almost fully owned by him.

Early life

He was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, the son of Julian and Josephine Rizzuto. His father was born Nicola in Italy, but later changed his name to Julian although Josephine's ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' 1983 obituary refers to him as Nicola. Leandro had two sisters, Anita Casamento of Brooklyn and Pauline Navarra of Phoenix. In 1959, Rizzuto dropped out of St. John's University to assist his family in setting up a hair products business in the basement of their Brooklyn home; this would later become Conair.

Career

In December 2017, his net worth was estimated at $3.5 billion.

Personal life

He was divorced, with four children, and lived in

Sheridan, Wyoming Sheridan is a city in the U.S. state of Wyoming and the county seat of Sheridan County, Wyoming, Sheridan County. The city is located halfway between Yellowstone National Park, Yellowstone Park and Mount Rushmore by U.S. Route 14 in Wyoming, U.S. ...

. On December 3, 2017, Rizzuto died from

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

. On January 5, 2018, President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

appointed his son Leandro Rizzuto Jr., to the position of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States to

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

, as well as St. Kitts and Nevis and

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rizzuto, Leandro 1938 births 2017 deaths American billionaires American people of Italian descent Deaths from pancreatic cancer in the United States Deaths from cancer in Wyoming American company founders Businesspeople from Brooklyn People from Sheridan, Wyoming