The chairman and CEO of LVMH, the world’s largest luxury goods conglomerate, Bernard Arnault is a French millionaire. Bernard Arnault has a net worth of $125 billion at the time of this writing. Behind the likes of Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, he is one of the world’s wealthiest people.
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Bernard Arnault
| Net Worth: | $125 Billion |
| Date of Birth: | Mar 5, 1949 (73 years old) |
| Gender: | Male |
| Profession: | Businessperson, Business magnate |
| Nationality: | France |
Early Life
At the time of his birth on March 5, 1949, Bernard Jean Étienne Arnault was living in Roubaix, France. Jean Léon Arnault, his father, was a manufacturer and a graduate of the École Centrale Paris. Étienne Savinel, the founder of Ferret-Savinel, was the father of his mother Marie-Josèphe Savinel. In 1950, Jean Léon Arnault, Savinel’s son-in-law, and Bernard’s father took over management of Ferret-Savinel and ultimately granted him full control of the company. Bernard is a 1971 alumnus of France’s prestigious École Polytechnique, the country’s top engineering school.
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Career
Arnault began working at Ferret-Savinel after graduating from college in 1971. (which was previously owned by his maternal grandfather). For the next two decades, he served as the company’s president. To his credit, during his time at Ferret-Savinel, he helped the company pivot away from construction and toward real estate, which proved to be a wise choice. Antoine Bernheim helped him purchase Financiere Agache, a luxury goods company, in 1984. Financiere Agache and Boussac Saint-Freres, a textile company, were both taken over by him as CEO of Financiere Agache. Christian Dior and Le Bon Marche were two of the many brands and stores owned by Boussac, which were sold by Arnault to other investors.
After founding LVMH, a group of luxury brands that included Christian Dior, Arnault found himself more successful than ever before. It all began in 1987 when Louis Vuitton and Moet Hennessy joined to form the conglomerate. With a contribution of $1.5 billion in July 1988, Guinness acquired a 24 percent stake in LVMH through a holding company he founded with him. A “blocking minority” rumor started circulating about the Louis Vuitton group, so Arnault spent an additional $600 million to purchase 13.5% of LVMH shares as a preemptive measure. He became the largest shareholder in LVMH as a result of this decision. In January 1989, he paid $500 million to buy even more shares, making him the richest person in the world at the moment. The shares he owned and the voting power he exercised over LVMH totaled 43.5% at that point. It was because of his influence and control that his conglomerate was prevented from being dismantled, transforming it into one of the world’s largest leading luxury groups.
LVMH expanded rapidly under Arnault’s leadership. Not only did sales and profit increase by a factor of five in eleven years, but the company’s market value increased by a factor of fifteen as well. As of June 2020, the company has 75 companies, but Arnault has remained committed to an approach that decentralizes the brands, allowing them to be recognized as autonomous brands and businesses with their histories and stories. Other brands owned by LVMH include Céline (acquired in 1988), Berluti (acquired in 1993), Kenzo (acquired in 1993), Guerlain (acquired in 1994), Loewe (acquired in 1996), Marc Jacobs (acquired in 1997), Sephora (acquired in 1997), Thomas Pink (acquired in 1999), Emilio Pucci (acquired in 2000), and Fendi (in 2001).
Other Investments
Arnault is involved in a slew of other ventures in addition to LVMH. Europatweb, his holding firm, made investments in several web-based businesses between 1998 and 2001, including Boo.com, Libertysurg, and Zebank. In 1999, he invested in Netflix through his investment firm, Groupe Arnault. As of 2007, Arnault and Colony Capital owned 10.69 percent of Carrefour, according to a press release. Carrefour is the second-biggest food distributor in the world and the largest grocery operator in France. He’s also got a hand in the yachting industry. Princess Yachts cost him €253 million in 2008. After that, he bought Royal van Lent for the same price.
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Art collection
However, Arnault isn’t only a businessman – he has a strong interest in art, for example. Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol are just two of the world-renowned artists that have been included in LVMH-sponsored shows in France.
Personal Life
Arnault married Anne Dewavrin in 1973, and they divorced in 1990; they had two children. They have two children together. He married Hélène Mercier, a Canadian concert pianist, in 1990. They are parents of three children. Arnault and his family donated 200 million dollars to the restoration and reconstruction of the ancient Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, France, following the tragic fire that devastated the cathedral.
Details about Bernard Arnault’s Net Worth
The majority of Arnault’s wealth comes from Christian Dior, in which his family owns a stake of 73%. Dior owns 41 percent of the world’s largest luxury goods corporation, LVMH; the Arnault family owns 5.7 percent of the company directly. Hermes and Carrefour both have 8.4 percent of their own as well. The winery Cheval Blanc, which he owned a part in, was sold to LVMH in 2009 for 238 million euros. Last year, LVMH made $41.6 billion in revenue. As of June of this year, Bernard Arnault’s fortune had surpassed $100 billion. As of that time, he was the third-richest individual on the globe. With a net worth of $108 billion in July 2019, he became the second-richest person in the world behind Bill Gates, by almost $400 million. Bernard Arnault’s net wealth grew by $36 billion from January to December 2019.
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