This article will answer every question you have about Bernard Arnault. Below are some of the frequently asked questions about him.
- What does Bernard do for a living?
- Who are Bernard’s parents and siblings?
- What are Bernard’s interests and hobbies?
- Is Bernard married or does he have a girlfriend?
- Does Bernard have any children?
- Where is Bernard now?
- How tall is Bernard?
- How much money does Bernard earn?
- What is Bernard’s net worth?
N/B: Please read the entire post to have all your questions answered.
Who is Bernard Arnault?
Bernard Arnault (Bernard Jean Étienne Arnault) is a famous French business magnate, art collector and investor. He is the chief executive, co-founder, and chairman of LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton SE, the world’s largest luxury goods company. As of July 2022, according to Forbes, multibillionaire Bernard Arnault is 2nd richest person in the world.
Arnault’s collection includes works of Andy Warhol, Picasso, Henry Moore, and Yves Klein. He participated in establishing LVMH as a major patron of art in France. LVMH Young Fashion Designer offers international competition to students from fine-arts schools.
Arnault owned Phillips de Pury & Company, from 1999 to 2003. He began the building project of the Louis Vuitton Foundation in 2006. Blue Capital announced in 2007 that Bernard jointly owns the California property firm Colony Capital. He bought Princess Yachts for 253 million euros in 2008. Subsequently, he took control of Royal van Lent for an almost identical amount.
How Old Is Bernard Arnault?
Arnault was born in Roubaix, France on 5th March 1949. He is 73 years of age as of 2022. Bernard shares his birthday with celebrities such as Jillette, Eva Mendes, Jolene Blalock, Claire Drake, Cash Baker, among others.
Bernard Arnault
Who Are Bernard Arnault’s Parents?
Arnault was born to Marie-Josèphe Savinel and Jean Léon Arnault. His father owned a civil engineering company Ferret-Savinel. Arnault had a younger brother, Dominique Watine-Arnault who died on 1st March 2006.
Bernard Arnault Education
Arnault learned at the Lycée Maxence Van Der Meersch in Roubaix, and the Lycée Faidherbe in Lille. He graduated from the École Polytechnique in 1971. He landed a job at his father’s company. Bernard convinced his father to change his engineering company to a real estate company.
Bernard Arnault Wife
Arnault tied knots with Anne Dewavrin in 1973. The couple separated in 1990. Together they had two children, Delphine and Antoine. Arnault married Hélène Mercier in 1991. Mercier is a Canadian concert pianist. The couple resides in Paris.
Does Bernard Arnault Have Children?
Arnault is a father of five children. He had two children with his first wife, Delphine, and Antoine. He has three children with his second wife, Alexandre, Frédéric, and Jean. All his five children have official roles in brands controlled by their father alongside his niece Stephanie Watine Arnault. His daughter, Alexandre is EVP of Tiffany & Co. Jean is Director of Marketing and Development at Louis Vuitton while Frédéric is CEO of TAG Heuer. Delphine has been the partner of Xavier Niel since 2010.
How Tall Is Bernard Arnault?
Adding to his well-built body, Arnault stands tall in stature. He is 1.85 meters tall.
Bernard Arnault Career
Arnault began his career at his father’s company Ferret-Savinel, in 1971. He served as its president from 1978 to 1984. Bernard acquired the Financière Agache, a luxury goods company with the help of a senior partner of Lazard Frères, Antoine Bernheim. He became the company’s CEO and won the bidding war for Boussac Saint-Frères. Arnault acquired the nickname “The Terminator” after laying off 9,000 workers two years after he bought Boussac. He sold most of the company’s assets and retained the Christian Dior brand and Le Bon Marché department store. The company rose again in 1987 and booked earnings of $112 million on a revenue stream of $1.9 billion dollars.
LVMH Co-founding
Arnault, together with Alain Chevalier, CEO of Moët Hennessy, and Henry Racamier, president of Louis Vuitton, worked together and co-founded LVMH in 1987. Bernard gave $1. 5 billion in July 1988 to form a holding company with Guinness that held 24% of LVMH’s shares.
He again used $600 million and bought 13.5% more of LVMH and became LVMH’s largest shareholder. Again in January 1989, Arnault spent $500 million and gained control of a total of 43.5% of LVMH’s shares and 35% of its voting rights. He removed Racamier from the board of directors. Arnault was elected chairman of the executive management board on 13th January 1989.
LVMH expansion
Arnault brought an ambitious development plan as the company’s chairman. He transformed the company into one of the largest luxury groups in the world. The company’s annual sales and profit sprouted by 5 percent. Additionally, the market value of LVMH increased by a factor of 15.
Arnault bought Céline in July 1988. He sponsored Christian Lacroix to advertise the company’s luxury clothing line. Bernard bought Kenzo and Berluti in 1993. Additionally, he bought La Tribune, a French economic newspaper. However, despite the big spend of 150 million euro investment, the company did not achieve its desired success. Arnault sold the newspaper in November 2007 and bought Les Échos, for 240 million euros.
Bernard bought Guerlain a perfume firm in 1994. He also acquired Loeweand Sephora in 1996 and 1997 consecutively. The company integrated five more brands, Thomas Pink in 1999, Emilio Pucci in 2000, and Fendi, DKNY, and La Samaritaine in 2001. Arnault developed a managing center of LVMH in New York and put Christian de Portzamparc as the project supervisor.
He also had eyes on Gucci run by om Ford and Domenico De Sole back then. He bought shares up to 34.4 percent. However, De Sole discovered his intentions to take over and tried to stop him. Arnault kept the fight on until settlement in September 2001. There was a legal ruling and LVMH sold its shares and earned a profit of $700 million.
2001–present
Arnault bought 50.4% of family-owned shares of the Italian jeweler Bulgari on 7th March 2011. That transaction was worth $5.2 billion. Bernard invested $641 million in establishing LCapitalAsia in 2011. He joined a joint venture with the Italian fashion brand, Marco De Vincenzo, in February 2014 and took a minority 45% stake in the firm. LVMH sold DKNY to G-III Apparel Groupin 2016.
Arnault announced in April 2017 the acquisition of Christian Dior’s haute couture, leather. He led LVMHto record sales of 42.6 billion Euros in 2017. The net profit increased by 29 percent
Arnault planned to buy Tiffany & Co. for approximately US $16.2 billion. The deal was to be closed by June 2020. However, LVMH declined the acquisition in September due to Tiffany’s handling of the business during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tiffany filed a suit against LVMH to be compensated for the damages. LVMH filed a countersuit claiming that Tiffany mishandled the business during the pandemic by paying millions in dividends to shareholders despite the big loss. The two parties agreed to the original takeover.
However, the deal was with a reduced price of nearly $16 billion, a minor reduction of 2.6% from the aforementioned deal. The new deal reduced the amount payable per share by LVMH from the original price of $135 to $131.50. The deal was closed in January 2021.
As of May 2021, LVMH had a record of 313 billion euros ($382 billion) under Arnault’s leadership. Arnault took the lead as the world’s richest man overtaking Jeff Bezos with a net worth of 187.3 billion dollars. However Amazon stock ticked up hours later and Jeff Bezos reclaimed his post.
Bernard Arnault’s Salary and Net Worth
As a businessman, Arnault’s income is not constant. He earns more than 7 billion per year. Bernard Arnault has accumulated a net worth of $168.6B as of August 2022. Forbes has listed him as the third richest billionaire in the world.
