Who Is Bernard Arnault? The LVMH founder is the richest man in the world.

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2024-03-10T14:06:24Z

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Bernard Arnault, CEO of luxury-goods conglomerate LVMH, has brought all his five children into the business.

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Bernard Arnault is the world’s richest man. He has a net worth of $201 billion, according to Bloomberg. 
He controls the massive luxury conglomerate LVMH, and his children all hold roles in the business. 
He’s now in talks to buy French magazine Paris Match, according to the Wall Street Journal. 

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No name is perhaps more synonymous with the world of luxury goods than Bernard Arnault. 

Arnault, the 75-year-old CEO of French luxury conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, or just LVMH for short, built his fortune over the span of almost four decades, amassing a luxury-goods empire that includes some of the best-known brands in fashion, jewelry, and alcohol, including Louis Vuitton, TAG Heuer, and Dom Pérignon.

Earlier this week, he reclaimed the title of the world’s richest person, and has a net worth of about $201 billion, according to Bloomberg. He, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk have traded places on and off over the past year. 

Along the way to the top, Arnault has brought his five adult children into the fold, building a family-run business that has resulted in immense wealth and even drawn comparisons to the hit HBO show Succession (which Arnault has dismissed).

Arnault is now in talks to add French magazine, Paris Match, to his growing empire for around $109 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. While the acquisition might be little more than pocket change for the multi-billionaire, Paris Match’s value comes from its social influence. The magazine has long been known for chronicling the upper echelons of French society, according to the Journal. 

Here’s a closer look at how Arnault and his family rose to the top: 

The 75-year-old French businessman is the chairman and CEO of LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton, known as LVMH.

The majority of Arnault’s wealth comes from his stake in luxury fashion house, Christian Dior.

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Arnault owns a 97.5% stake in Christian Dior, which controls 41.4% of LVMH, according to Bloomberg. 

Arnault comes from the northern French town of Roubaix.

Students from École Polytechnique, where Arnault went to school.

Thibault Camus/AP

He studied engineering at one of France’s most prestigious schools, the École Polytechnique, and after graduating, he went to work for his father’s construction company, Ferret-Savinel, according to Bloomberg. 

In 1984, Arnault acquired an ailing company called Agache-Willot-Boussac.

LVMH vice president Alain Chevalier and Bernard Arnault, then CEO of Financière Agache, at an event in Paris in 1988.

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Agache-Willot-Boussac owned brands like French department store Bon Marché and the fashion house Christian Dior, according to The New York Times. He renamed the firm Financière Agache and initiated a turnaround, cutting costs and selling off some of its businesses, the Times reported. 

The moves helped the company earn an additional $112 million on revenue of $1.9 billion just a few years later.

Arnault bough Celine and funded designer Christian LaCroix after helping bring in additional revenue for Financiere Agache.

Claudio Lavenia/Getty Images

In 1987, he bought the fashion house Celine and funded the French designer Christian Lacroix, according to The New York Times. 

In the late 1980s, Arnault said his goal was to run the world’s largest luxury company within the following decade.

Bernard Arnault circa 1980.

Michel SETBOUN/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

He then set his sights on LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, spending $2.6 billion buying up shares in order to become the company’s largest shareholder, and eventually its chairman and CEO, by 1989, according to The New York Times.

Arnault married Anne Dewavrin in 1973.

Arnault and his now ex-wife Anne Dewavrin.

Frederic REGLAIN / Contributor/Getty Images

The couple had two children, and during their marriage, Arnault moved the family to the United States for a couple of years in “open reaction to the rise of the French Socialists and their determination to tax the rich,” according to France24.

He and Dewavrin separated in 1990, according to the Financial Times.

Arnault then married concert pianist, Hélène Mercier, in 1991.

Bernard Arnault and his second wife, Canadian concert pianist, Hélène Mercier.

Reuters

Arnault reportedly wooed her by playing Chopin and other classical composers for her, according to Forbes.

Like many of his fellow billionaires, Arnault lives a lavish life.

Bernard Arnault on board his private jet between Beijing and Shanghai.

Marc DEVILLE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

He traveled by a $73 million private jet until last year, selling it after Twitter accounts began tracking the aircraft. He owns properties in glitzy Saint-Tropez on the French Riviera. Earlier this year, he bought $22 million worth of property in the Hamptons, according to the Observer. 

The French billionaire and his wife live on Paris’s Left Bank, south of the Seine River, a historic area that includes neighborhoods such as the Latin Quarter and St. Germain-des-Prés.

Arnault poses in front of his Basquiat collection in his Paris home.

FANTHOMME Hubert / Contributor/Getty Images

He also has an impressive art collection of both modern and contemporary paintings that includes pieces by artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat, Damien Hirst, Maurizio Cattelan, Andy Warhol, and Pablo Picasso, according to Bloomberg. 

Arnault has five children: two with his first wife and three with his current wife.

From left: Alexandre, Frédéric, and Jean Arnault, Helene Mercier, and Bernard, Delphine, and Antoine Arnault.

DENIS CHARLET/AFP via Getty Images

Antoine and Delphine Arnault are his two children from his first marriage, while his youngest three — Alexandre, Frédéric, and Jean — are from his second marriage to Mercier, according to The New York Times. 

Delphine, Arnault’s oldest daughter, has established herself as a central figure in the LVMH empire.

Delphine Arnault became CEO of Christian Dior Couture in February.

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She started her career at the American consultancy firm McKinsey & Co. in Paris and was the executive vice president at Louis Vuitton, according to Business of Fashion. In January 2019, Delphine became the youngest member of LVMH’s executive committee at age 43, according to mds. Delphine became CEO and chair of Christian Dior Couture in February.

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