Italian noted family, the grandson of Guccio Gucci, founder of a fashion empire. He was the son of Aldo and nephew of Rodolfo, the two sons of the founder of the family fortune. When the old man died in 1953, the two sons took over the business. Aldo had three sons, Paolo, Roberto and Georgio. When Aldo died in 1983 he left 50% of the business to Maurizio and 50% to his sons.
Paolo inherited $42 million. The House of Gucci had business reversals and Paolo declared bankruptcy in 1993. He had outrageous power struggles with his dad, whom he even turned over to the IRS for income tax evasion.
On 11/04/1993, U.S. marshals raided one of his farms in New York and seized 15 Arabian horses that were dying of neglect. Another 85 animals were gaunt and weakened. Penny Armstrong, a 24-year old former stable girl and the mother of Paolo’s nine-month old daughter, Alyssa, insists there are no problems with the stables. She claims that the accusations are the result of an acrimonious divorce of the past two years with Paolo’s ex, Jennifer Gucci. In March, 1993, Paolo was jailed for 24 hours in Bridgeport, CT, for failure to pay $350,000 in alimony and support for daughter Gemma, 10.
Paolo died of liver disease 10/10/1995, London, leaving an estate worth over $10 million. A battle ensued over the estate between his ex-wife, Yvonne, 65, his estranged present wife, Jenny, and a common-law wife, Penny Armstrong, 26.