Bernard Arnault
| Bernard Arnault | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 5 March 1949 Roubaix, France |
| Residence | Paris, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Alma mater | École Polytechnique |
| Occupation | Chairman & CEO of LVMH Chairman of Christian Dior S.A. |
| Net worth |  US$ 41 billion (2011)[1] |
| Spouse | Hélène Mercier (Pianist) |
| Website | |
| LVMH.com | |
Bernard Arnault (pronounced: [bɛʁnaːʁ aʁno]) (born 5 March 1949) is a French business magnate who is best known as the chairman and chief executive of luxury group LVMH.[2][3][4] According to Forbes magazine, Arnault is the world's 4th and Europe's richest person, with a 2011 net worth of US$41 billion.[5] He has also been named by Forbes as "the fashion person of 2011"[6]
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Education and family life
Bernard Jean Étienne Arnault was born March 5, 1949, in Roubaix. His father Jean Leon Arnault was a manufacturer, owner of a civil engineering company, Ferret-Savinel. After graduating from the Maxence Van Der Meersch High School in Roubaix, Bernard Arnault was admitted to the École Polytechnique (X1969) from which he graduated with an engineering degree in 1971.
Bernard Arnault has been married twice, and is the father of five children. As the director for LVMH, his daughter Delphine Arnault is actively involved in the management of the luxury group. His son Antoine Arnault is Head of Communications for Louis Vuitton. His second wife, Hélène Mercier, is a pianist from Quebec. The couple has three sons. His nephew Harry Seaman is also involved in LVMH, overseeing sales and he is currently researching in the U.K.
Bernard Arnault was a witness at President Nicolas Sarkozy's wedding to Cécilia Ciganer-Albéniz. In January 2007 Kathryn Blair, the daughter of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, completed an intensive French language and culture course at France's Sorbonne University. Tony Blair has been criticised for accepting an invitation on her behalf from Bernard Arnault. During Kathryn Blair's course, which ran from 12 October 2006 to 26 January 2007, she is thought to have been provided with an accommodation, security and transport package worth around £80,000.[7]
[edit] Férinel
After graduation, in 1971, he joined his father's company. In 1976, he convinced his father to liquidate the construction division of the company for 40 million French francs, and to change the focus of the company to real estate. Using the name Férinel, the new company developed a specialty holiday accommodation. Named director of company building in 1974, he became CEO in 1977. In 1979, he succeeded his father as president of the company. When Socialist François Mitterrand was elected President of France in 1981, Bernard Arnault emigrated to the United States and created Ferinel Inc. Through this vehicle, Bernard Arnault undertook construction activity in the United States, developing an apartment complex in limited partnership form in West Palm Beach, Florida, which defaulted on its mortgage shortly after its completion. The equity investors lost their entire investment and bondholders who had financed the project lost most of their money as well. He was not particularly successful in the United States.
[edit] Christian Dior
Three years later, when the French Socialists switched to a more conservative economic course, Bernard Arnault returned to France and became the CEO of Financière Agache, a luxury goods company. With the help of Antoine Bernheim, a senior partner of Lazard Frères et Cie., the Paris office of Lazard Frères & Co., and government subsidies conferred in exchange for a promise not to downsize, Bernard Arnault acquired Boussac, a textile company in turmoil. The Arnault family put up just $15 million of their own money, with Lazard supplying the rest of the reported $80 million purchase price.[8] Bernard Arnault sold nearly all the company's assets, keeping only the prestigious Christian Dior brand, and Le Bon Marché department store.[9]
[edit] LVMH
In 1987, shortly after the creation of LVMH, the new luxury group resulting from the merger between two companies, Mr Arnault exploited a growing conflict between Alain Chevalier, Moët Hennessy's CEO, and Henri Racamier, president of Louis Vuitton. The new group held property rights to Dior perfumes, which Bernard Arnault craved to incorporate into Dior Couture. He created a holding company of which he owned 60% and Guinness, who had a distribution agreement with Moët-Hennessy, owned 40%. Following the October 1987 stock market crash, he capitalized on the lower quoted price and soon owned 43% of LVMH. He then consolidated his position by purging executives from both companies including appointing his father Jean Leon Arnault Chairman of the Supervisory board before officially taking over as Chairman & CEO in 1989.
In 2007, he acquired 10.69% of France's largest supermarket retailer and the world's second largest food distributor, Carrefour through his Blue Capital, which is jointly owned by California property firm Colony Capital.
He has since then led the company through an ambitious development plan, turning it into one of the largest luxury groups in the world, alongside Swiss luxury giant Richemont and French based PPR Group.
Among other companies, Arnault also owned the art auction house Phillips de Pury & Company from 1999 to 2003.[10]
Arnault's main business competitors are:
- French businessman François-Henri Pinault, whose holding company PPR owns Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Stella McCartney, Sergio Rossi, Bottega Veneta, Boucheron, Roger & Gallet, Bédat & Co and Christie's.
- Swiss-based Richemont, which owns Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Piaget, Baume et Mercier, IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, A. Lange & Söhne, Officine Panerai, Vacheron Constantin, Dunhill, Lancel, Montblanc, Old England, Purdey, Chloé, and Shanghai Tang.
[edit] Patronage
Mr Arnault is a noted art collector. Following the example of business man François Pinault, he created a Louis Vuitton foundation for contemporary art. Designed by Frank Gehry, the construction of the foundation should open at the Jardin d'acclimatation in 2012.
[edit] Awards
Bernard Arnault was awarded the French Legion of Honour.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Forbes topic page on Bernard Arnault. Accessed March 2011". Forbes. http://www.forbes.com/profile/bernard-arnault. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
- ^ Gumbel, Peter (26 April 2004). "Bernard Arnault". TIME. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,993989,00.html. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
- ^ Fendi.com
- ^ Galloni, Alessandra (5 March 2009). "Being LVMH's Bernard Arnault – WSJ. Magazine – WSJ". The Wall Street Journal. http://magazine.wsj.com/features/the-big-interview/being-arnault/. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
- ^ "Bernard Arnault". Forbes. http://www.forbes.com/profile/bernard-arnault. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
- ^ . http://www.forbes.com/sites/andersonantunes/2011/12/14/fashions-person-of-the-year-is-bernard-arnault-of-course-2//.[dead link]
- ^ "Cherie's pride at her graduate girl (...and the Blairs managed to negotiate a freebie, too)", Gordon Rayner and Peter Allen, Daily Mail, 12 February 2007
- ^ "Bernard Arnault – Learning the Family Business". Referenceforbusiness.com. http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/biography/A-E/Arnault-Bernard-1949.html. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
- ^ "Un portrait de Bernard Arnault censuré par Laurent Joffrin". Acrimed.org. http://www.acrimed.org/article3437.html. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
- ^ "Phillips de Pury & Company". Phillipsdepury.com. http://www.phillipsdepury.com/about-us.aspx. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
[edit] External links
- Being LVMH's Bernard Arnault- Profile story from WSJ Magazine
- A Guide to the Principal Holdings of Bernard Arnault also in WSJ Magazine
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