- Patrizia Martinelli Reggiani was the ex-wife of Maurizio Gucci whom she married because she was excited about living a luxurious life
- After her marriage to Gucci ended, she paid a hitman to kill her ex-husband which eventually led to her imprisonment
- Patrizia had an accumulated wealth of $20m after her release from prison and now boasts of having a net worth of about $15m.
Patrizia Reggiani, Maurizio Gucci’s ex-wife is worth over $10m despite not having to work ever in her life. Even while incarcerated, Patrizia’s wealth continued to accumulate and got to about $20m.
In 2016, the ‘Black Widow’, as she was nicknamed, was released from her 29 years-sentence after serving just 18 years. She lost connection with her family and even had to deal with another legal battle against her children.
She is still alive and enjoying the wealth gotten from her marriage to Guccio Gucci’s heir, Maurizio. Her life and marriage have even been featured in pop culture as the movie House of Gucci was centered around that.
How Did Patrizia Reggiani Get Rich and Famous?
Patrizia Reggiani was born in Vignola, Northern Italy, on December 2, 1948, in a poor family. Her mother remarried when she was 12 as her biological father was estranged. Patrizia’s stepfather was a wealthy entrepreneur named Ferdinando Reggiani who later adopted her.
10 years after, adopted Reggiani met Maurizio who would be her own gateway to a life of riches and affluence. He was the heir to the Gucci fashion house and they met in 1970, at a party.
2 years after the meeting, Patrizia and Maurizio sealed their union by getting married in spite of his father’s warnings and threats. Rodolfo Gucci, Maurizio’s father believed that Reggiani was a social climber who was only interested in the Gucci family wealth.
The marriage between Martinelli and Gucci took place on October 28, 1972, and as a wedding gift, they got a luxury penthouse located in New York’s Olympic Tower from Rodolfo. As soon as she became a Mrs. Gucci, she started attending every A-list event possible.
A decade later, the couple relocated back to Milan and 3 years later, doom befell their marriage. In 1985, Maurizio went on a short business trip to Florence but he was only trying to get away from the marriage. A day after his trip, the Gucci heir sent his friend to deliver the news of the end of the marriage and that he wouldn’t be returning to her.
5 years after the announcement, in 1990, Maurizio started dating Paola Franchi, an Italian interior designer, artist, model, and author. She even wrote a book about her relationship with Maurizio.
The Black Widow has a $15 Million Net Worth Despite Time in Jail
After Maurizio Gucci ended his marriage to Patrizia, they officially annulled the union in 1994. She was entitled to an annual $1.47 million divorce settlement from Gucci because they had 2 children together. Additionally, she was to drop the Gucci last name but she refused to as she needed to continue feeling affluential. She admitted that she still felt like a Gucci and was even the most Gucci of them all.
A year after the divorce, on March 27, 1995, Maurizio Gucci was assassinated by a hitman. The murder took place just in front of his office as he arrived for work that morning.
Investigations and trials commenced and fingers were pointed at his ex-wife who was both enraged that he was in another relationship, and threatened that she would lose her alimony by half.
The hitman assigned to do the dirty job was Benedetto Ceraulo who owned a pizzeria that was neck-deep in debt. He was said to have been paid 300 Euros to get the job done. Through the trial period, some evidence came to light that showed that Reggiani used to communicate with Benedetto through an intermediary named Giuseppina ‘Pina’ Auriemma.
Maurizio Gucci’s ex-wife was eventually sentenced to 29 years in prison for being the brain behind her husband’s death. She pleaded that her conviction be overturned, claiming that her brain tumor used to distort her personality and that was what happened when she ordered the murder.
The conviction was not overturned but was looked into and eventually reduced. She even tried to commit suicide after this verdict in 2000.
The now-75-year-old remained in confinement until 2016 when she was finally released on the basis of good conduct after refusing parole under a work release 5 years prior. Patrizia Gucci stated that she wouldn’t take that option because she had never worked in her entire life.
While Patrizia Reggiani nee Martinelli was incarcerated, her alimony continued to pile and at the end of her time in prison, her wealth rose to about $20m.
7 years later, it is speculated that she is worth nothing less than $10m. Most sites give her net worth to be $15m even. She even became a design consultant for the jewelry store, Bozart.
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She is not on Good Terms with her Daughters
From her marriage to Maurizio, Lady Gucci (Patrizia’s other nickname), had 2 daughters. She bore Allesandra in 1977, and Allegra 4 years later, in 1981. During her trial, her daughters were on her side and Alessandra even made a plea for her mother citing the brain tumor effect. Unfortunately, by the time her mother’s jail term ended, her daughters had severed ties with her.
After serving her jail term, Patrizia Reggiani Gucci’s children were completely out of her life. They even had a legal battle as Alessandra and Allegra wanted to cut her off from the Gucci inheritance which was in form of an annuity from Maurizio’s estate.
Luckily for Patrizia, she won the case and continues to earn $1.47m annually from the estate.
According to The Guardian, Alessandra, and Allegra are married and have started their own family. They are also wealthy after inheriting Maurizio’s $400m and the family’s yacht named Creole. They live quiet lives, unlike their mother who loved to be the center of attention then.
