[2] The Florio business empire had far-reaching interests in sulphur, tuna fishing, Marsala wine, insurance and banking, and metallurgy (the Oretea foundry) and engineering.

[5] In the heyday of its existence reportedly some 16,000 people depended on the Florio business empire, and the press sometimes referred to Palermo as 'Floriopolis'.

The shipping lines depended mainly on state subsidies; the beneficial effects of the unification of Italy had disappeared and the size of the economic empire had made it increasingly difficult to be directly manage by Ignazio, without the interference of the banks and competitors in the north.

[2] The stagnation of the family businesses, despite the awareness of the imminent decline, resulted in huge debts and all the Florio companies either were sold or disappeared.

The last years of his life were marked by total apathy, deafness and complete loneliness except for the presence of his wife.