Bernard Arnault Biography
Bernard Arnault is a French business tycoon, financier, and art collector working as the prime supporter, administrator, and CEO of LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton SE, the world’s biggest extravagance merchandise organization.
Bernard Arnault Age
Arnault is 73 years old as of 2022. He was born Bernard Jean Étienne Arnault on 5 March 1949 in Roubaix, France.
Bernard Arnault Family
Marie-Josèphe Savinel, his mother and Étienne Savinel’s daughter, had a “fascination for Dior.” The civil engineering firm Ferret-Savinel belonged to his father, the manufacturer Jean Léon Arnault, a graduate of the École Centrale de Paris.
Bernard Arnault’s Wife and Children
He wed Anne Dewavrin in 1973, and the couple had two children together: Delphine and Antoine. In 1990, they separated. He wed Canadian concert pianist Hélène Mercier in 1991, and the couple had three children together: Alexandre, Frédéric, and Jean. Paris is where Arnault and Mercier live.
Along with his niece Stephanie Watine Arnault, all five of Arnault’s children—Delphine, Antoine, Alexandre, Frédéric, and Jean—have official roles in brands that are controlled by Arnault. Delphine, Arnault’s daughter, has been Xavier Niel’s partner since 2010. Xavier Niel is a French billionaire who works in the telecommunications and technology industries.
Bernard Arnault Education
Arnault received his education at the Lycée Faidherbe in Lille and the Lycée Maxence Van Der Meersch in Roubaix. He started working for his father’s business after graduating from the top engineering school in France, the École Polytechnique, in 1971.
Bernard Arnault Net Worth
According to Forbes, Arnault and his family had an estimated net worth of US$159 billion in October 2022, making him the richest person in Europe and the second richest person in the world.
Bernard Arnault House
Bernard spent more than ten years building a stunning home in Paris. On the left bank of the Seine, in Paris’ 8th arrondissement, is where the house is situated. It has 12 bedrooms, 12 bathrooms, a ballroom, and a dining room, and is more than 7,000 square feet in size. The residence’s exterior is made of limestone and has ornately carved details. Two bronze sculptures of lions flank the front door, which is entirely made of that material.
The 12-acre estate, which is said to be worth $200 million, has a private lake, tennis court, and underground parking. Bernard spent more than ten years building a stunning home in Paris. Large gardens surround the house, which also has an Olympic-sized pool with a submarine at one end. This opulent mansion in Paris is rumored to be worth more than $200 million.
Bernard Arnault Yacht
He started in the yacht industry in 2008 and paid 253 million euros for Princess Yachts. A stunning $150 million superyacht is his property. Arnault refers to the Symphony Motoryacht, a 344-foot vessel, as “the wolf in cashmere.” It is ranked 50th among the world’s top 100 superyachts and was constructed by the Dutch shipyard Feadship.
For Christian Dior and Louis Vuitton, two of Arnault’s most successful brands, Merino had worked his magic. When we come back to the pleasure craft, the main deck first catches people’s attention because of how big the living area is. It leads to a long aft deck and a striking contraflow infinity pool. On the main deck, there is also a small lounge, pool saloon, and a big gym.
Bernard Arnault Car
According to reports, Arnault drives a BMW 760Li, a luxury sedan that can reach a top speed of 250 kilometers per hour and goes from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour in 3.8 seconds. The 760Li has an M Performance TwinPower Turbo 12-cylinder gasoline engine, making it one of the best luxury cars on the market. The 760Li’s rear passenger side is designed to look like an executive lounge, with leather “Nappa” seats and extended NMRI Cognac trim.
The 760Li has an M Performance TwinPower Turbo 12-cylinder gasoline engine, making it one of the best luxury cars on the market. The 760Li’s rear passenger side is designed to look like an executive lounge, with leather “Nappa” seats and extended NMRI Cognac trim.
Bernard Arnault Riches
He surpassed Amancio Ortega of Zara to become the richest person in fashion in April 1999. As the CEO of the LVMH group in 2016, Arnault received €7.8 million in compensation. With a net worth of $103 billion in July 2019, Arnault rose to the position of the second richest person on the planet. In December 2019 and again for a brief period in January 2020, Arnault briefly surpassed Jeff Bezos to claim the title of the world’s richest person. Arnault’s wealth decreased by $30 billion during the COVID-19 pandemic as sales of high-end goods fell sharply.
He reclaimed the title of the richest man in the world on August 5, 2021, when his net worth increased to $198.4 billion. This happened as LVMH’s luxury goods sales in China and other Asian countries soared. On the Forbes Billionaires list, he is identified as “Bernard Arnault & Family.” According to Forbes, Bernard Arnault will surpass Bill Gates in wealth in 2022 with a fortune of $158 billion.
Bernard Arnault Company
Arnault bought the luxury goods company Financière Agache. He took over as CEO of Financière Agache and won the bidding war for Boussac Saint-Frères. He paid a ceremonial one franc to buy the company and effectively took control of Boussac Saint-Frères. The department store Le Bon Marché, the retail store Conforama, and the diaper manufacturer Peaudouce were among Boussac’s assets, along with Christian Dior.
In the two years following his purchase of Boussac, Arnault laid off 9,000 employees, earning him the moniker “The Terminator.” The Christian Dior brand and Le Bon Marché department store remained after he sold nearly all the company’s assets. By 1987, the organization was beneficial once more and booked profit of $112 million on an income stream of $1.9 billion bucks. Arnault came up with the idea to form a group of luxury brands in the 1980s. In 1987, he founded LVMH alongside Mot Hennessy CEO Alain Chevalier and Louis Vuitton president Henry Racamier.
Arnault contributed $1.5 billion in July 1988 to the formation of a holding company with Guinness that held 24% of LVMH’s shares. Arnault spent $600 million to acquire 13.5 percent more of LVMH, making him the company’s largest shareholder, in response to rumors that the Louis Vuitton group was purchasing the company’s stock to form a “blocking minority.” The idea behind the creation of LVMH was that the company would be too big for a single hostile raider. However, attempts at internal takeover were not taken into account by the premise. When Arnault had a different strategic vision than Louis Vuitton President Henry Racamier, the error became too big to ignore.
Arnault, along with Swiss luxury giant Richemont and French-based Kering, transformed the company into one of the largest luxury groups in the world after taking over leadership. LVMH’s market value increased by a factor of 15 and annual sales and profit increased by a factor of 5 over the course of eleven years. Arnault acquired Céline in July 1988. He sponsored French fashion designer Christian Lacroix in the same year to promote the luxury clothing line of the company. In 1993, the same year Arnault bought out the French economic newspaper La Tribune, LVMH bought Berluti and Kenzo.
Despite his 150 million euro investment, the company failed to succeed, and he sold it in November 2007 to acquire Les Échos, a different French economic newspaper, for €240 million. Guerlain was acquired by LVMH in 1994 as a perfume company. Arnault purchased Loewe in 1996, Marc Jacobs in 1997, and Sephora in 1997. The group also included the following five additional brands: Emilio Pucci in 2000, Thomas Pink in 1999, and La Samaritaine, DKNY, and Fendi in 2001. Arnault made the decision in the 1990s to establish a center in New York to oversee LVMH’s presence in the United States.
Christian de Portzamparc was his choice to oversee this project. The LVMH Tower, which opened in December 1999, was the outcome. Arnault noticed Gucci, an Italian leather goods company owned by Tom Ford and Domenico De Sole, in the same year. Before being discovered, he secretly acquired a 5 percent stake in the business. In a hostile response, Gucci referred to it as a “creeping takeover.”
Arnault increased his stake to 34.4 percent after he was noticed, insisting that he wanted to be a supportive and unassuming stakeholder. De Sole suggested that Arnault would stop increasing his stake in Gucci in exchange for board representation. Arnault, on the other hand, refused to accept these terms. De Sole discovered a loophole that allowed him to issue shares without the board’s approval. As a result, he created more shares for his employees for each share LVMH bought, reducing Arnault’s stake. The conflict persisted until a settlement was reached in September 2001. LVMH made a profit of $700 million when it sold its shares following the ruling.
With strong performances from all divisions, Arnault led LVMH to record sales of €42.6 billion in 2017, an increase of 13% over the previous year. Arnault announced its acquisition of Christian Dior’s leather, men’s and women’s ready-to-wear, and footwear lines in April 2017. Additionally, he took a 45 percent minority stake in a joint venture with the Italian fashion brand Marco De Vincenzo. He intended to acquire Tiffany & Co. in November 2019 for approximately $16.2 billion US. The arrangement was dropped because of the treatment of the business during the Coronavirus pandemic.
LVMH recorded a counterclaim against the court activity started by Tiffany; According to a statement released by LMVH, Tiffany’s mismanagement during the pandemic was to blame, and the company was “burning cash.” On May 24, 2021, Arnault, with a net worth of 187.3 billion dollars, overtook Jeff Bezos as the world’s richest man for a time.