Who Is Bernard Arnault: Net Worth, Career, Family of LVMH CEO

Table Of Content

• Antoine Arnault and Delphine Arnault are his two children from his first marriage.
• Bernard Arnault’s Company
• Former Pirate Island Hideaway Is Now a USD 50 Million Florida Luxury Resort
• LVMH announces the fast approaching launch of a new luxury Maison, developed by Robyn Rihanna Fenty
• How much is The Bernard Arnault House worth?
• Arnault's youngest son, Jean, joined the family business in 2021.
• LVMH Chairman Bernard Arnault is worth $113 billion. Here are 17 of his luxury conglomerate's iconic brands.

The dueling titans are building foundations in Hollywood that could be transformative not only for their many brands—which are chockablock with unplumbed archives—but also for the entertainment business, which knows how to tell a compelling tale. Last September, Pinault, chairman and chief executive of Kering, bought a majority stake in the CAA talent agency for a reported $2.8 billion through his family’s private-investment group, Artémis. Arnault's entry into the luxury goods market was marked by his strategic acquisition of the financially-struggling textile and retail conglomerate Boussac Saint-Frères in 1984, which included the prestigious fashion house Christian Dior. His aggressive business strategies earned him the nickname "The Terminator," as he revitalized Dior and sold off other assets for profit. In 1987, he played a key role in the creation of LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy), a global company in luxury goods, by merging Louis Vuitton with Moët Hennessy.

Antoine Arnault and Delphine Arnault are his two children from his first marriage.

Through a series of strategic acquisitions and investments, Arnault changed LVMH into a major company in the luxury industry, overseeing significant growth and expansion into various sectors, including fashion, jewelry, watches, and wine. Bernard Jean Étienne Arnault is many things; from an investor, business titan, art collector and founder of the largest luxury goods business the world has ever seen. His children, Delphine Arnault, Antoine Arnault, Frédéric Arnault, Alexandre Arnault, Jean Arnault all work across and within LVMH and its brands and have created names for themselves in their own right.

Bernard Arnault’s Company

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). Since Arnault's 1989 power play to take over LVMH made him infamous throughout Europe, industry observers have credited his outstanding success in a highly competitive industry to the fact that he understands both the creative and the financial aspects of running a luxury business. Arnaud often cites an early visit to the U.S. as the first time he understood the true power of a luxury brand. When he asked a New York City taxi driver what he knew of France, the man replied that, although he could not name the president, he knew Dior.

Former Pirate Island Hideaway Is Now a USD 50 Million Florida Luxury Resort

The Chateau has 34 luxurious rooms, as well as a private Chalet and a penthouse with a balcony overlooking the mountain. This unaltered vineyard spans over 41 hectares and effectively mixes beauty, environment and history in one location. The Chateau has also been regarded as one of the top wine-producing areas in the world since 1871. “If a recession happens, then I will 100% buy less or maybe even stop buying altogether,” luxury lifestyle influencer Jeffrey Huang, 28, told Reuters. This article was amended on 16 January 2023 to expand on a quote from Chauvet to clarify that he was referring to Chinese consumerism. “We see no clouds on the LVMH horizon,” commented Luca Solca at the luxury goods analyst firm Bernstein, which estimates Chinese luxury spending could rise 35% this year.

LVMH announces the fast approaching launch of a new luxury Maison, developed by Robyn Rihanna Fenty

And he's confident in the luxury empire he's built, once telling the late Steve Jobs that demand for luxury goods like champagne may even outlast the almost $3 trillion dollar tech brand. He previously told The New York Times, "Steve Jobs once asked me for some advice about retail, but I said, 'I am not sure at all we are in the same business.' I don't know if we will still use Apple products in 25 years, but I am sure we will still be drinking Dom Pérignon." Since 2011, he's been CEO of luxury shoemaker Berluti, though he'll be handing over the reins in January to Jean-Marc Mansvelt, who has been CEO of the LVMH-owned jewelry label Chaumet until now. Antoine will stay on as the chairman of Berluti, and cashmere label Loro Piana. Antoine has also been a board member of LVMH since 2006, and was named the company's head of communication and image in 2018, according to Business of Fashion.

How much is The Bernard Arnault House worth?

World's richest man promotes daughter to head Dior - BBC.com

World's richest man promotes daughter to head Dior.

Posted: Wed, 11 Jan 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]

LVMH has also been in the news this year after it threatened to call off its multibillion-dollar acquisition of US jeweler Tiffany and Co., first announced for $16.2 billion in 2019, but reduced to $15.8 billion in the fall after a lengthy dispute between the two firms. The deal is still the largest and most expensive in the luxury sector and is set to close in early 2021. It all starts in Roubaix — on the Franco-Belgian border — a galaxy far removed from Avenue de Montaigne with its Fendi, Celine, Givenchy, Dior and Louis Vuitton shops. Starting in the 1970s and 1980s, this region suffered the brunt of globalization, with the closures of factories and mines. The labor bastion of the left eventually became one of the main electoral strongholds of the extreme right. The son and grandson of construction businessmen in Roubaix, Arnault belongs to a family from the provincial bourgeoisie.

When the 2020 global pandemic hit the luxury market shortly after the announcement, months of public mudslinging and accusations of mismanagement ensued—but Arnault finally closed the deal at $420 million less than the original price. In 2020, the company, like the rest of the luxury sector, was economically impacted by the pandemic and store closures throughout the world. In the first nine months of the year, it recorded revenue of €30 billion ($37 billion), down 21% from this time last year. Located at 1 Main Street, the building is priced at $4,400 per square foot, while the average cost of a square foot in an East Hampton’s commercial property is $1,348, as reported by the East Hampton Star.

LVMH Chairman Bernard Arnault is worth $113 billion. Here are 17 of his luxury conglomerate's iconic brands.

Several Hollywood executives, none of whom would speak on the record, challenged initial speculation that Pinault’s control of CAA will help Kering recruit talent to wear or advertise its labels. Proposing such alliances might instead raise suspicions that they are more for the benefit of Kering and CAA corporately. Adding to the trophy speculation is the presence of Pinault’s wife, the 57-year-old Oscar-nominated actress Salma Hayek, the mother of his youngest child. (Another of his four children is just a year older and is the son of supermodel Linda Evangelista.) Pinault, who is 61, is often photographed standing behind Hayek, unidentified by paparazzi but holding her coat and bag while she signs autographs.

The moves helped the company earn an additional $112 million on revenue of $1.9 billion just a few years later. In 1984, Arnault acquired an ailing company called Agache-Willot-Boussac. 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. Arnault owns a 97.5% stake in Christian Dior, which controls 41.4% of LVMH, according to Bloomberg.

LVMH acquired Arnault's share in 2009[24] to add to the group's other wine property Château d'Yquem. In January 2021, LVMH acquired American jeweler Tiffany & Co for $15.8 billion, believed to be the biggest luxury brand acquisition ever. While the property was never publicly listed for sale, archived permits reveal that the mansion is likely over 10,000 square feet and was built with only three bedrooms.

Bernard Arnault is a French luxury goods billionaire who is the chairman and CEO of LVMH (Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton), one of the world's largest multinational conglomerates. Under Arnault's leadership, LVMH has become the  world’s largest luxury goods co powerful and influential figures in the global fashion industry. While Arnault is best known for his business acumen, he is also an avid art collector and philanthropist. In 2017, he donated 113 million dollars to the Louvre Museum in Paris, the largest donation ever made by an individual, with sales of over 42 billion dollars in 2017. Arnault’s next move was a power play that made him infamous throughout Europe. Once in the door at LVMH, he used the constant feuding between the two CEOs to secure a controlling interest and then ousted the two warring CEOs.

Arnault's net worth surpassed the $200 billion mark earlier this month, making him the third-person ever, behind Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, to do so. The company opened a new 100,000-square-foot Louis Vuitton factory in Texas in 2019, the company's third factory in the US. In a 2014 interview with the Financial Times, she said, "I'm quite discreet. I think I'd rather focus on my work." He renamed the firm Financière Agache and initiated a turnaround, cutting costs and selling off some of its businesses. The occasion was Mr. Arnault’s announcement that LVMH would provide 150 million euros (about $161 million) to sponsor the 2024 Paris Olympics.

But despite industrywide hardships, LVMH has been resilient, reporting last week that first-quarter sales grew 3% on an organic basis to $22 billion, matching estimates. The RedstonesHaving been made president of National Amusements, the family’s private holding company, Shari Redstone seemed to be her father Sumner M Redstone’s obvious heir. But just as she appeared to be gaining influence in the company, which controlled Viacom and CBS (which later became ViacomCBS and is now known as Paramount Global), the media mogul, then in his 80s, publicly said she wasn’t qualified for the role. William Middleton, Paris-based fashion writer and author of a forthcoming biography of Karl Lagerfeld, Paradise Now, describes the extraordinary growth of the French fashion and luxury conglomerates over the past three decades.

Delphine Arnault, the eldest daughter, holds an important position within LVMH’s fashion division, which encompasses some of the world’s most iconic luxury brands. The 73-year-old real estate developer and business mogul is the richest man in Europe and third-richest in the world, worth $141 billion, according to Forbes. He oversees the LVMH empire of some 75 fashion and cosmetics brands, including Louis Vuitton and Sephora. Bernard Arnault, the richest person in the world and owner of luxury brand LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, reportedly sold one of his Los Angeles properties in late 2021 for a staggering $84.5 million.

After winning “one of the fiercest battles in French fashion,” he became Chair, CEO, and majority shareholder of LVMH—a position he continues to hold as of April 2022. Over the next three decades, he combined the defunct Boussac assets (including Dior) with the LVMH brands and dozens of acquired companies to create the world’s most powerful luxury conglomerate—with revenues of €44.6 billion ($51 billion) by 2020. Bernard Arnault’s company owns LMVH, which houses 70+ luxury brands ranging from fashion, cosmetics, wines, cosmetics, and jewellery among others.