Alexander Min Vui Wong, 42, faced a six-week trial in Melbourne's Supreme Court over allegations he killed 56-year-old China Bar boss Yoke Onn Chi in January 2020.
Jurors returned their not guilty verdict just before midday on Friday, after less than two days of deliberations.
Mr Chi's son found his lifeless body lying in the hallway of their Templestowe Lower family home about 11pm on January 31.
His father's face had been so badly mutilated that Shen Chi did not realise the person lying in a pool of blood was his father, the jury was previously told.
Prosecutors accused Mr Wong of laying in wait for Mr Chi to return home from closing his Preston restaurant, before using a rubber mallet to beat him to death.
Crown barrister Mark Gibson KC had alleged Mr Wong attacked Mr Chi in a jealous rage after finding messages between him and Mr Wong's estranged wife Penny.
However, Mr Wong's barrister James McQuillan said police never found a trace of blood on or around his client, despite a blood-soaked crime scene.
He said someone else had murdered Mr Chi and suggested that a black glove found by police at Mr Wong's house, with Mr Chi's DNA on it, had been planted.
Mr Wong will walk free from prison later on Friday.
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