Paris At the Paris fashion shows, a slender man in a dark suit often sits at the front. Bernard Arnault hardly smiles and speaks very softly. Next to him are usually Anna Wintour from “Vogue” or international stars. If the cameras are aimed at the first row, then always at the discreet gentleman.
Now the Frenchman, head of the luxury group LVMH, is getting even more attention: This week he was named the richest person in the world by the US magazine “Forbes”, replacing Elon Musk.
After Musk bought Twitter, Tesla shares plummeted and the entrepreneur lost billions. Musk’s net worth is estimated by the magazine at $181 billion. The 73-year-old Arnault comes to 186 billion dollars, and the trend is rising. Because he is not only the boss, but also a co-owner of LVMH, which is still a family business.
In addition to Louis Vuitton, Moët & Chandon and Hennessy (LVMH), the group includes a further 72 luxury brands such as Dior, Tiffany, Givenchy, Fendi and Bulgari. After an increase in sales of 44 percent in 2021, another record result is expected for 2022. Arnault and his family hold around 47 percent of the shares in the group.
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Arnault built up his fortune, which has more than sixfold in ten years, over decades with luxury companies. Despite the crises of recent years, they are doing well, while the tech brands that have risen quickly are increasingly shaky. Arnault’s fortune is likely to continue to rise.
Management consultancy Bain expects 2022 to be a record year for the luxury sector worldwide, with growth of 15 percent. The industry serves a global market, which makes it resilient. In addition, the upper income groups are hardly affected by the current crises, according to the experts. LVMH stock hit a record high of €726 on Wednesday. In the past six months, it has increased by more than 32 percent.
LVMH’s luxury brands are doing well despite the crises of recent years.
(Photo: Reuters)
Arnault himself does not want to know anything about retirement for the time being, but wants to stay until his 80th birthday. He recently raised the age limit for CEOs in his company from 75 to 80. The entrepreneur always had great ambitions: “What I love is winning. I love being number one.”
Born in Roubaix, the northern Frenchman, whose second marriage is to the pianist Hélène Mercier-Arnault, has five children whom he has installed in the group for years so that they can continue his work. Antoine and Delphine from his first marriage, as well as Alexandre, Fréderic and Jean with his second wife. But who will be the father’s successor is still a mystery.
The billionaire hardly knows defeats
Arnault became the majority shareholder of LVMH in 1989 and he has continued to expand his empire. His specialty: He bought up dusty brands and revived them, including Dior and Louis Vuitton. Arnault comes from a family of entrepreneurs. After studying engineering in Paris, he took over his father’s real estate business and expanded it, building and trading in holiday homes in southern France and Florida.
In 1984 he bought the ailing textile company Boussac Saint-Frères, to which Dior belonged – his first coup. Arnault sees “perseverance and confidence” as the most important qualities for his success. He is also well connected and knows stars and politicians. He was also friends with Karl Lagerfeld, who died in 2019 and was artistic director at Fendi.
Arnault relied on hip designers such as Marc Jacobs, John Galliano and Nicolas Ghesquière for his brands. There were hardly any defeats for him. Only once did he lose out, when competitor François Pinault snatched Gucci from under his nose in 2001.
Arnault has sold his private jet
Privately, Arnault is an avid tennis player, art collector and piano player, has a luxury yacht and houses in metropolises such as Paris and London. He’s not a party type, he rarely goes to restaurants and hardly drinks alcohol.
He also no longer has a private jet. An Instagram account made him sell the plane, he recently told French media. Environmental activists followed the movements of “Bernard’s plane” and calculated the CO2 emissions. Arnault’s travels were heavily criticized thereafter.
Now he’s chartering jets instead, which isn’t so easy to understand. He is constantly on the move around the world and is considered a workhorse. Daughter Delphine Arnault once said of him: “He works 24 hours. When he sleeps he dreams of new ideas for the company.”
The 47-year-old is Vice President at Louis Vuitton.
(Photo: AFP/Getty Images)
Delphine, 47, has been on the board of LVMH since 2003, vice president at Louis Vuitton and in a relationship with telecom billionaire Xavier Niel. They are all friends of President Emmanuel Macron, whose wife Brigitte swears by the Louis Vuitton brand for official occasions, such as the recent US White House visit with Jill and Joe Biden. Arnault and his wife were also invited to dinner, where they met Vogue editor-in-chief Wintour.
Son Antoine was always a bit in his father’s shadow. The 45-year-old is married to top model Natalja Wodjanowa and is the head of shoe manufacturer Berluti and communications director at Louis Vuitton. A few days ago, his father appointed him head of Christian Dior’s holding company. He has given him significantly more power in the group.
Bernard Arnault’s eldest son has recently been given more responsibility.
(Photo: Reuters)
Alexandre, 30, is head of Tiffany’s, Fréderic, 27, runs the Swiss brand Tag Heuer, which also belongs to LVMH. Jean, 23, is head of development for the watch division of Louis Vuitton.
Arnault skilfully builds for his family. The conversion of his holding company Agache, through which Arnault controls the group, into a limited partnership was recently announced. The patriarch wants to secure long-term control over LVMH and protect his company from hostile takeovers – also for the next generation.
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