Barbados Times

Barbados, Caribbean & World News
Thursday, Mar 23, 2023

Bernard Arnault, Luxury Emperor Who Dethroned Elon Musk As World's Richest Person

Bernard Arnault, Luxury Emperor Who Dethroned Elon Musk As World's Richest Person

With $184 billion on Thursday, Bernard Arnault and his family moved to the top of Forbes' billionaire list, knocking the Tesla, SpaceX and Twitter boss off the top spot.
Bernard Arnault -- who with his family now tops the wealth of Elon Musk -- gradually built LVMH into a global luxury empire by buying up iconic brands, sealing his reputation as a formidable and insatiable businessman.

With $184 billion on Thursday, the 73-year-old Frenchman and his family moved to the top of Forbes' billionaire list, knocking the Tesla, SpaceX and Twitter boss off the top spot.

LVMH -- the world's leading luxury group -- boasts more than 75 brands, acquired over time.

They include some of the most recognisable names in fashion and prestige goods, from Louis Vuitton and Kenzo to Moet Hennessy and Tiffany.

"An essential quality in our family is patience," Arnault acknowledged in a 2012 TV profile of him.

A decade later -- by which time LVMH's annual sales had more than doubled to over 64 billion euros ($68 billion) -- he told France's Radio Classique: "We can continue to progress -- but let's be patient. 

"No rush," he said.

The businessman has also invested in the French media, a move he described during a Senate hearing in January 2022 as "more on the patronage side".

During a hearing in the French Senate earlier this year Arnault said he had intervened to stop LVMH advertising in the Liberation newspaper, after it irked him with a front-page article.

'Invest in something promising'

Arnault was born in the northern French city of Roubaix on March 5, 1949 and joined his father's public works building company at the age of 22.

He had just left the elite Ecole Polytechnique and convinced his father to transform the construction business into real-estate development instead.

In 1981, after socialist Francois Mitterrand was elected president, Arnault left France for the United States.

On his return three years later, he bought the debt-ridden textiles company Boussac, prevailing against several serious competitors with a promise to save jobs.

However, he embarked on a drastic reorganisation of the firm, only retaining some of its businesses, including the fashion house Christian Dior.

By then, Arnault was 35 years old.

"My father was surprised when I went to see him saying: 'We're going to redirect the family group and try to invest in something more promising, Christian Dior'," the businessman recalled recently on Radio Classique.

It would be the foundation stone for his luxury empire.

LVMH was born out of the merger in 1987 of trunk-maker Louis Vuitton and the wines and spirits group Moet Hennessy.

Rivalry between the families owning the two companies aided Arnault's ascendancy and he took control of the group in 1989 after no fewer than 17 legal proceedings.

"He's a tough negotiator but unmatched, a visionary who knows how to surround himself with good people and who in the end always gets his way one way or another," Arnaud Cadart, portfolio manager at financial services firm Flornoy, told AFP.

Arnault's rise, however, has not been without some failures.

Corporate criticisms

He lost Italian fashion and leather goods house Gucci to his French rival Francois Pinault, head of the PPR group, in 1999.

Arnault also tried in vain to take over Hermes, known for its silk scarves and leather handbags, by secretly building up a stake in the firm.

He rarely speaks publicly and does not like the limelight.

When the use of private jets by celebrities was being tracked on social media earlier this year, Arnault sold the LVMH jet.

"The upshot now is that no one else can know where I'm going because I lease planes," he said on Radio Classique.

"It's the French businessman's lot to embody -- sometimes in a totally unjustified way -- the criticisms of the day since the mindset has for a few years now been a bit anti-corporate," he lamented on France 2 in 2016.

That same year he was skewered in a satirical documentary entitled "Merci Patron!" (Thank you Boss!) by filmmaker and now politician Francois Ruffin, who often has Arnault in his crosshairs.

Obama, Putin, Trump, Macron...

Last year, LVMH paid a 10-million-euro fine to settle a case as part of a probe into spying.

Arnault abandoned his bid to secure Belgian nationality in 2013 issuing a mea culpa after it whipped up a storm of controversy which rumbled on for months amid public debate over the tax arrangements of the wealthy.

In 2011, he was received at the White House by president Barack Obama; Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed him to Moscow five years later; former French president Francois Hollande cut the ribbon on his Louis Vuitton Foundation, while Donald Trump did the same for a Vuitton workshop in Texas.

And when the historic Samaritaine department store, owned by LVMH, reopened last year, French President Emmanuel Macron was a guest at the inauguration.

In Japan, China and the Middle East, the luxury mogul has access to top leaders.

Arnault has five children, all of whom work for LVMH, but shows little sign of slowing down -- or handing over the reins just yet.

Every week he makes a point of touring all the group's Paris-based companies.

At its last general meeting, the age limit for his role as LVMH chief executive was extended to 80 years old, ensuring the luxury conglomerate stays in family hands.

Married to a pianist and art lover, Arnault also created the Louis Vuitton Foundation, one of Paris' most prestigious exhibition locations for contemporary art.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Barbados Times
Close
0:00
0:00
Donald Trump arrested – Twitter goes wild with doctored pictures
NYPD is setting up barricades outside Manhattan Criminal Court ahead of Trump arrest.
Credit Suisse's Scandalous History Resulted in an Obvious Collapse - It's time for regulators who fail to do their job to be held accountable and serve as an example by being behind bars.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman tours potential migrant housing in Rwanda as asylum deal remains mired in legal challenges
Paris Rioting vs Macron anti democratic law
'Sexual Fantasy' Assignment At US School Outrages Parents
Credit Suisse to borrow $54 billion from Swiss central bank
Russian Hackers Preparing New Cyber Assault Against Ukraine
Jeremy Hunt insists his Budget will get young parents and over-50s back into work
If this was in Tehran, Moscow or Hong Kong
TRUMP: "Standing before you today, I am the only candidate who can make this promise: I will prevent World War III."
Mexican President Claims Mexico is Safer than the U.S.
A brief banking situation report
Lady bites police officer and gets instantly reaction
We are witnessing widespread bank fails and the president just gave a 5 min speech then walked off camera.
Donald Trump's asked by Tucker Carlson question on if the U.S. should support regime change in Russia?.
Silicon Valley Bank exec was Lehman Brothers CFO
In a potential last-ditch effort, HSBC is considering a rescue deal to save Silicon Valley Bank UK from insolvency
BBC Director General, Tim Davie, has apologized, but not resigned, yet, following the disruption of sports programmes over the weekend
Elon Musk Is Planning To Build A Town In Texas For His Employees
The Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse effect is spreading around the world, affecting startup companies across the globe
City officials in Berlin announced on Thursday that all swimmers at public pools will soon be allowed to swim topless
Fitness scam
Market Chaos as USDC Loses Peg to USD after $3.3 Billion Reserves Held by Silicon Valley Bank Closed.
Senator Tom Cotton: If the Mexican Government Won’t Stop Cartels from Killing Americans, Then U.S. Government Should
Banking regulators close SVB, the largest bank failure since the financial crisis
The unelected UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, an immigrant himself, defends new controversial crackdown on illegal migration
Man’s penis amputated by mistake after he’s wrongly diagnosed with a tumour
In a major snub to Downing Street's Silicon Valley dreams, UK chip giant Arm has dealt a serious blow to the government's economic strategy by opting for a US listing
It's the question on everyone's lips: could a four-day workweek be the future of employment?
Is Gold the Ultimate Safe Haven Asset in Times of Uncertainty?
Spain officials quit over trains that were too wide for tunnels...
Don Lemon, a CNN anchor, has provided a list of five areas that he believes the black community needs to address.
Hello. Here is our news digest from London.
Corruption and Influence Buying Uncovered in International Mainstream Media: Investigation Reveals Growing Disinformation Mercenaries
Givenchy Store in New York Robbed of $50,000 in Merchandise
European MP Clare Daly condemns US attack on Nord Stream
Former U.S. President Carter will spend his remaining time at home and receive hospice care instead of medication
Tucker Carlson called Trump a 'demonic force'
US Joins 15 NATO Nations in Largest Space Data Collection Initiative in History
White House: No ETs over the United States
U.S. Jet Shoots Down Flying Object Over Canada
Being a Tiktoker might be expensive…
SpaceX, the private space exploration company, made a significant breakthrough in their mission to reach space.
China's top tech firms, including Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu, NetEase, and JD.com, are developing their own versions of Open AI's AI-powered chatbot, ChatGPT
This shocking picture, showing how terrible is the results of the earthquake in Turkey
President Joe Biden delivered the 2023 State of the Union Address , in order to help Americans that missed the 2022 speech, do not have internet, and suffer from short memory.
The desk of King Carlos Alberto of Sardinia has many secret compartments
Today's news from Britain - 9th February 2023
The five largest oil companies in the West generated combined profits of nearly $200 billion in 2022, which has led to increased calls for governments to impose tougher windfall taxes
×