The man controlling luxury’s largest corporation, Bernard Arnault, is here to meet you. So stick to this page and Learn about his luxury group LVMH have an unforgettable impression on the fashion industry because of the complete scale of the company’s possessions and ongoing productivity.
Thus, born as the son of a businessman, Arnault was blessed with sharp business sharpness from a young age. Bernard Arnault made it his business to hold the most striking names across the range of luxury goods, cosmetics, and beverages.
According to Forbes, Arnault and his family had an approximate withdrawal of $159 billion in 2022, making him the second-richest person in the world and the richest in Europe.
“Money is just a consequence. I always say to my team, ‘Don’t worry too much about profitability. If you do your job well, the profitability will come.”
Personal Status
| Name | Bernard Jean Étienne Arnault |
| D.O.B | 5 March 1949 |
| Place of birth | Roubaix, France |
| Age | 73 Years |
| Zodiac sign | Pisces |
| Height | 6’1″ (185 cm) |
| Weight | 172 lbs (78 kg) |
| Profession | Business magnate Media proprietor Investor |
| Net Worth | $158 billion |
| Spouses | Anne Dewavrin (1973-1990)Hélène Mercier (1991) |
| Children | Alexandre Arnault,Antoine Arnault, Delphine Arnault,Frederic Arnault, Jean Arnault |
Who is Bernard Arnold?
Bernard Arnault is a French business tycoon, financier, and art collector. He has been the co-founder and chairman since 1989 and is also the main shareholder in the LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton SE, the world’s largest luxury goods company.
Yet those who dismissed him as an angry sketch missed the point; his wise moves proved that his proficiency in brand management was unmatched by the competition. LVMH also had interests in the D.F.S. and Sephora retail groups.
After graduation, the young man joined his father’s civil engineering business as an engineer and also started planning for the company’s augmentation and extension.
He finally started acquiring other companies and became the owner of the prestigious Christian Dior brand and Le Bon Marché department store.
Consequently, after creating LVMH as an amalgamation between two companies, Arnault spent millions in the shares of the new company and became LVMH’s first investor.
In due course, he was elected chairman of the executive management board, and in this position, he led an extensive expansion plan and transformed the company into one of the largest luxury groups in the world
Family Background & Early Career
Bernard Jean Étienne Arnault belongs to a mother, Marie-Josèphe Savinel. While his father, manufacturer Jean Léon Arnault, a graduate of École Centrale Paris, owned the civil engineering company Ferret-Savinel.
Arnault attended the Lycée Maxence Van Der Meersch in Roubaix and the Lycée Faidherbe in Lille. In 1971, he graduated from the École Polytechnique, France’s leading engineering school, and started work for his father’s company.
After three years, Bernard Arnault convinced his father to shift the company to real estate, Ferret-Savinel sold the industrial construction division and was renamed Ferinel.
Following the achievement of a textile company and repositioning their headquarters, the company renamed the real estate branch to the George V Group.
The real estate assets were later sold to Compagnie Générale des Eaux (C.G.E.), ultimately becoming Nexity, a French real estate company.
Thus, he is also fond of art, and Arnault’s collection consists of Picasso, Yves Klein, Henry Moore, and Andy Warhol.
Bernard Arnold Business
In 1984, with the help of Antoine Bernheim, a senior associate of financier Lazard Frères et Cie, Arnault acquired Financière Agache, becoming chief executive and taking control of Boussac.
This struggling textile company owned, among other possessions, Christian Dior and the department store Le Bon Marché. Arnault used this grip on the lavishness company to initiate building what would become the world’s largest extravagance corporation.
More than the next 11 years, LVMH’s value multiplied fifteen times over, and sales and profit increased 5 times. The main factor in the company’s success has been Arnault’s program of delegation and his efforts to underline each brand’s legacy, so each company is viewed separately in its own right.
In 1993, LVMH get Berluti and Kenzo. The following year, Bernard Arnold purchased the French economic newspaper La Tribune, which he later sold, reinvesting in the newspaper trade by selling Les Echos.
Over the successive years, with scores of achievements in the drinks market, Arnault got his nickname “a wolf in cashmere” by acquiring Givenchy, Guerlain, Marc Jacobs, Sephora, Emilio Pucci, Fendi (2003), Loro Piana, Nicholas Kirkwood, Thomas Pink, R.M Williams, EDUN, Moynat and Donna Karen; with a host of jewelry brands, including T.A.G. Heuer, De Beers and Bulgari (2011) and the classic American jeweler Tiffany & Co. (2021).
Arnault’s business activities have been taken by many as indicating the executive is firmly set on acquiring Hermès.
However, the Hermès family has thus far publically rebuffed Arnault’s advances, winning legal action against LVMH and taking steps to avoid additional investment in Hermès by Arnault.
In 2007 Bernard Arnault was named Commander of the Legion of Honour, one of France’s highest distinctions.
Other Investments
In 1998, businessman Albert Frère bought Château Cheval Blanc individually. In 2009, LVMH acquired Arnault’s share to attach to the group’s other wine property Château d’Yquem.
From 1998 to 2001, Arnault invested in many web companies such as Boo site, Libertysurf, and Zebank through his holding Europatweb. In 1999, Groupe Arnault was also empowered by Netflix.
From 1999 to 2003, he held Phillips de Pury & Company, an art auction house, and purchased the first French auctioneer, Tajan.
In 2007, Blue Capital announced that Arnault possesses, in collaboration with the California property firm Colony Capital 10.69%, France’s largest supermarket retailer and the world’s second-largest food distributor Carrefour.
In 2008, he invested in the yacht business and held Princess Yachts for 253 million Euros. Bernard Arnold afterward took control of Royal van Lent for roughly an identical amount.
He also launched LVMH as a major benefactor of art in France. Moreover, the LVMH Young Fashion Designer was created as an international competition open to students from fine-arts schools.
Yearly, the winner is awarded an allowance for sustaining the conception of the designer’s label and a year of a counselor.
Additionally, in 2006, Arnault started the building project of the Louis Vuitton Foundation. The architect Frank Gehry considered the building dedicated to the formation and modern art.
On 20 October 2014, the Foundation’s grand opening at the Jardin d’Acclimatation Paris was held.
Bernard Arnault Net Worth
Bernard Arnold, the LVMH group’s C.E.O., was remunerated €7.8 million in 2016. In 2022, Arnold became the second-richest man in the world, with a worth of $159 billion according to Forbes.
Arnault temporarily beat Jeff Bezos to become the richest person in the world in December 2019 and again for a short period in January 2020. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Arnault saw his capital contract by $30 billion as lavishness goods sales fell.
On 5 August 2021, Bernard Arnault reclaimed the status of the wealthiest man in the world, with his asset climbing to $198.4 billion. This occurred as sales of LVMH’s luxury goods surged in China and other parts of Asia.
Furthermore, Arnault owned the 70 m (230 ft) converted research vessel Amadeus, which was sold in late 2015. His current 101.5 m (333 ft) yacht, Symphony, was built by Feadship in the Netherlands.
In October 2022, Bernard Arnold stated that LVMH vends its private jet after a Twitter user started tracking its flights. Moreover, he also started renting private aircraft for his personal and business flights instead.
Reward
- Commander de la Légion d’Honneur (2007)
- Grand Officier de la Légion d’Honneur (2011)
- The Woodrow Wilson Award for Global Corporate Citizenship (2011)
- Honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (2012)
- The Museum of Modern Art’s David Rockefeller Award (2014)
Activists
Many philanthropic activities are carried out by the LMVH company of Bernard Arnault. It supports charitable, scientific, and medical research organizations, like Save the Children, the Foundation for Hospitals in Paris, and the Princess Grace of Monaco Foundation.
Moreover, from 2010-2013, Arnault was a member of the Board of Advisors of the Malaysian 1MDB fund.
Bernard Arnault Family
In 1973, Bernard Arnold married Anne Dewavrin and had two children, Delphine and Antoine. In 1990 they parted ways.
Then, he tied with Hélène Mercier, a Canadian concert pianist, in 1991 and had Alexandre, Frédéric, and Jean. All his children, Delphine, Antoine, Alexandre, Frédéric, and Jean, have official roles in brands controlled by Arnault, along with his niece Stephanie Watine Arnault.
Moreover, his son Alexandre is also the E.V.P. of Tiffany & Co, and Frédéric Arnault is the C.E.O. of T.A.G. Heuer. At Louis Vuitton, Jean is the Director of Marketing and Development.
Since 2010, Arnault’s daughter Delphine has been the associate of Xavier Niel, a French billionaire capitalist active in the telecommunications and technology industry.
Claim for Belgian Citizenship
In 2013, it was revealed that Arnault intended to apply for Belgian citizenship and was considering moving to Belgium.
Then, Bernard Arnold said that he had been misquoted and never planned to leave France, “I repeatedly said that I would stay as a resident in France and that I would continue to pay my taxes. Today, I decided to remove any ambiguity. I withdraw my request for Belgian nationality. Requesting Belgian nationality was to protect better the foundation I created to ensure the continuity and integrity of the LVMH group if I were to disappear.”
Bernard Arnault decided to discard his request for Belgian nationality, saying he did not want the move to be misunderstood as a measure of tax avoidance when France faced economic and social challenges.
Arnault also stated numerous employees requested to depart France for tax purposes. Still, he rejected their requests, clearing up “the 75% tax would not raise a lot of revenue but should prove less divisive, as now it was set to be levied on firms rather than people, and only due to stay in place for two years.”