Bernard Arnault Biography
Bernard Arnault is a business magnate, investor, and art collector from France. He is the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of the world’s largest luxury goods company, LVMH Mot Hennessy – Louis Vuitton SE.
How old is Bernard Arnault? – Age
He is 73 years old as of 5 March 2022. He was born in 1949 in Roubaix, France. His real name is Bernard Jean Étienne Arnault.
Bernard Arnault Family – Education
His mother, Marie-Josèphe Savinel, the daughter of Étienne Savinel, had a “Dior obsession.” His father, civil engineering firm Ferret-Savinel owner Jean Léon Arnault, a graduate of École Centrale Paris.
Arnault attended Roubaix’s Lycée Maxence Van Der Meersch and Lille’s Lycée Faidherbe. He graduated from the École Polytechnique, France’s top engineering school, in 1971 and began working for his father’s company. After convincing his father to shift the company’s focus to real estate three years later, Ferret-Savinel sold the industrial construction division and was renamed Ferinel.
Bernard Arnault’s Wife – Children
He married Anne Dewavrin in 1973, and they had two children, Delphine and Antoine. They divorced in 1990. He married Hélène Mercier, a Canadian concert pianist, in 1991, and they have three children, Alexandre, Frédéric, and Jean. Arnault and Mercier both reside in Paris. Delphine, Antoine, Alexandre, Frédéric, and Jean, along with Arnault’s niece Stephanie Watine Arnault, all have official roles in brands controlled by Arnault. Alexandre is Tiffany & Co’s EVP, Frédéric is TAG Heuer’s CEO, and Jean is Louis Vuitton’s Director of Marketing and Development. Delphine Arnault, Arnault’s daughter, has been the partner of Xavier Niel, a French billionaire businessman active in the telecommunications and technology industries, since 2010.
Bernard Arnault Yacht
In 2008, he entered the yachting industry by purchasing Princess Yachts for 253 million euros. He then bought out Royal van Lent for nearly the same price. Arnault was the owner of the 70-meter-long (230-foot-long) converted research vessel Amadeus, which he sold in late 2015. Symphony, his current 101.5 m (333 ft) yacht, was built in the Netherlands by Feadship.
What is the salary of Bernard Arnault?
In April 1999, he surpassed Zara’s Amancio Ortega as the richest person in fashion. Arnault was paid €7.8 million as CEO of the LVMH group in 2016. Arnault became the world’s second-richest man in July 2019, with a net worth of $103 billion. Arnault briefly surpassed Jeff Bezos to become the world’s richest person in December 2019, and again for a brief period in January 2020. Arnault’s fortune shrank by $30 billion during the COVID-19 pandemic, as sales of luxury goods plummeted. On 5 August 2021, he regained the title of the world’s wealthiest man, with a net worth of $198.4 billion.
In 2008, he entered the yachting industry by purchasing Princess Yachts for 253 million euros. He then bought out Royal van Lent for nearly the same price. Arnault was the owner of the 70-meter-long (230-foot-long) converted research vessel Amadeus, which he sold in late 2015. Symphony, his current 101.5 m (333 ft) yacht, was built in the Netherlands by Feadship
Bernard Arnault Net Worth
He earns a monthly salary of $1 Billion.
Bernard Arnault LVMH
Arnault had the idea to create a group of luxury brands in the 1980s. In 1987, he co-founded LVMH with Mot Hennessy CEO Alain Chevalier and Louis Vuitton President Henry Racamier.
Arnault provided $1.5 billion in July 1988 to form a holding company with Guinness that held 24% of LVMH’s shares. In response to rumors that the Louis Vuitton group was purchasing LVMH stock in order to form a “blocking minority,” Arnault spent $600 million to purchase 13.5% more of LVMH, making him the company’s largest shareholder. The idea behind LVMH was that the conglomerate would be too large for a single hostile raider. The premise, however, failed to account for internal takeover attempts.
When Arnault’s strategic vision differed from that of Louis Vuitton’s president, Henry Racamier, the flaw became too large to ignore. In January 1989, he spent another $500 million to gain control of 43.5% of LVMH’s shares and 35% of its voting rights, achieving the “blocking minority” required to prevent the LVMH group from being dismantled. He then turned on Racamier, deposed him, and removed him from the board of directors. He was unanimously elected chairman of the executive management board on January 13, 1989. In 1988, Arnault purchased Céline, Berluti, and Kenzo. He purchased Loewe, Marc Jacobs, and Sephora in 1996. In 1999, the LVMH Tower in New York opened. Before being discovered, Arnault had amassed a 5% stake in Gucci.
Arnault led the company to record sales of 42.6 billion Euros in 2017, a 13% increase over the previous year, as all divisions performed well. Arnault planned to buy Tiffany & Co. for approximately $16.2 billion in 2018. The transaction was scheduled to close in June 2020. LVMH announced in September 2020 that it would not proceed with its takeover of Tiffany, citing the company’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Forbes, the cancellation was purely financial; Tiffany was paying millions in dividends to shareholders despite a financial loss of US$32 million during the crisis.
Tiffany was purchased by LVMH in January 2021. The new agreement reduced the amount paid per share by LVMH from $135 to $131.50. Arnault briefly became the world’s wealthiest person on May 24, 2021.