Bernard Arnault, also known as Bernard Jean Étienne Arnault, is a French business magnate, investor, and art collector. He is the co-founder, Chairman, and CEO of LVMH Mot Hennessy – Louis Vuitton SE, the world’s largest manufacturer of luxury goods with a market capitalization of $378 billion.
Who is Bernard Arnault, and what is the LVMH company?
According to CNN, Bernard Arnault’s success story begins in Roubaix, France, where he was raised and began his career in his family’s construction business, Ferret-Savinel.
After several years of rising through the ranks, he invested in the Boussac Saint-Freres textile group in 1984, known for owning Christian Dior and on the verge of bankruptcy.
He set out to return the brand to profitability and to dominate the luxury retail market, particularly after purchasing LVMH in 1989, which was formed by the merger of Louis Vuitton and Mot Hennessy.
Arnault has been the company’s president and CEO since the acquisition and remains an important part of the business today. With 5,500 stores worldwide, LVMH owns 75 brands, including wine, spirits, fashion, leather goods, perfume, cosmetics, watches, jewellery, and luxury travel. The purchase of Tiffany & Co. for $15.8 billion in 2021 marked the company’s largest brand acquisition. Givenchy, Fendi, and Stella McCartney are the other notable brands in the group.
LVMH generated 64 billion euros ($68 billion) in sales last year and has a market value of 364 billion euros ($386 billion), according to Bloomberg.
Bernard Arnault – Biography summary
| Name | Bernard Jean Etienne Arnault |
|---|---|
| Born | 5 March 1949 |
| Birthplace | Roubaix, France |
| Age | 73 |
| Nationality | French |
| Education | Ecole Polytechnique, Palaiseau |
| Profession | Businessman; Media proprietor; Art Collector |
| Position | Chairman & CEO at LVMH; Chairman of Christian Dior SE |
| Net worth | $181.8 billion (Forbes 2022) |
| Father | Jean Leon Arnault |
| Mother | Marie-Josephe Savinel |
| Spouse | Anne Dewavrin (1973-1990); Helene Mercier (since 1991) |
| Children | 5, including Delphine and Antoine Arnault |
Bernard Arnault Education and Awards
He currently serves as LVMH’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. In 1971, he graduated from Ecole Polytechnique, France’s top engineering school, and began working for his father’s company.
He quickly steered the family business away from construction and toward real estate; ferret-savinel sold its industrial construction division and was renamed Ferinel.
- Grand Officer of the Legion d’Honneur on 14 July 2011
- Commander of the Legion d’Honneur on 10 February 2007.
- Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 2012
- Woodrow Wilson Award for Global Corporate Citizenship in 2011.
- The Museum of Modern Art’s David Rockefeller Prize in March 2014.
- Member of the World’s Millionaires
Facts
- Bernard Arnault is the richest person in Europe, worth an estimated $80.8 billion .
- The 69-year-old French businessman is chairman and CEO of LVMH , the world’s largest maker of luxury goods.
- LVMH brought in nearly $53 billion in revenue in 2018.
- Four of Arnault’s five children work at LVMH brands that include Louis Vuitton , Rimowa, Berluti, and TAG Heuer.
The Benard Arnault Success Formula
The Financial Times described Arnault as having “a compulsion to possess beautiful brands and transform their creativity into profits” in 2019. He transformed LVMH “from a near-bankrupt French textile company to a global group with €46.8 billion in sales (2018)” and a portfolio of over 70 of the world’s most desirable luxury brands, including Louis Vuitton, Dior, Givenchy, Veuve Clicquot, and Dom Pérignon, in four decades.
In 2020, a New York Times article about the Tiffany acquisition—and Arnault’s legendary ability to come out ahead in every deal—quoted a luxury executive, who said, “His approach is not unusual in the M&A game—just it’s unusual in this industry. He acquires brands in the traditional Wall Street manner, but then he holds them. He thinks in terms of generations. He’s a strategist, not a gambler.” According to a Parisian academic, “he’s not afraid of a fight, but… He’s constantly evaluating outcomes and can put ego aside in the service of the result,” and as a result, “even when he loses, he wins.”
The 2019 Financial Times article also cited “first-mover advantage” as a driver of Arnault’s remarkable track record, “, particularly in China, where (he) is welcomed like a head of state when he visits.” According to Arnault, the first Louis Vuitton store in mainland China opened in Beijing in the basement of the Palace Hotel in 1992, just as market-economy reforms were taking hold—and there was no hot water in the hotel and bicycles instead of cars on the roads.
Over the next two decades, as China began to drive luxury spending, Arnault’s bet on the Chinese infant market paid off, with LVMH being “one of the main beneficiaries.” Arnault believes that rising living standards will continue to create new luxury markets in emerging global economies.
Bernard Arnault – Art Collector
Bernard was a young fashion designer who enjoyed collecting art. Picasso, Yves Klien, Henry Moore, and Andy Warhol are among the artists in his collection. LVMH became a major art patron in France due to his art-collecting habit. He established an international competition for students of fine arts schools. Every year, the winner receives a grant and a year of mentorship to support the creation of the designer’s label.
From 1998 to 2003, he ran an auction house called Philips de Pury & Company. Tajan, the first French auctioneer, was also purchased by him. In 2006, he launched a project focused on the creation and contemporary art. The project was named the Louis Vuitton Foundation, and the building was dedicated on October 20, 2014.
The Arnault Model: Achieving Financial Discipline While Being Creative
Arnault proceeded to make “a series of brilliant business decisions” that “can only be described as masterful” over the next three decades as he brought the best luxury brands in fashion, cosmetics, and beverages under the LVMH umbrella. Even his detractors admired his “ability to manage creativity for profit and growth.” Observers frequently attribute Arnault’s exceptional success in a highly competitive industry to the fact that, unlike other global CEOs, he understands both the creative and financial aspects of running a luxury business.
Bernard Arnault – Chairman of Christian Dior
Bernard, with the assistance of Lazard Freres, purchased a luxury goods company in 1984. He later took over as CEO of the acquired company, Financiere Agache.
He gradually gained control of Boussac Saint-Freres, the textile company that owned Christian Dior, Le Bon Marche, Conforama, and Peaudoce. He sold all of the company’s assets, keeping only the Christian Dior brand and the department store Le Bon Marche.
What is the net worth of Bernard Arnault?
According to Bloomberg, Bernard Arnault’s net worth is $170.8 billion. However, due to difficult economic markets and the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, the figure will fall slightly by $7.2 billion in 2022.
Despite amassing a large fortune, Arnault shows no signs of slowing down: In early 2022, LVMH raised the age limit for its CEO from 75 to 80, implying that he will remain at the helm for at least another couple of years.
Arnault appears to have chosen a low-key life despite having the means to live largely. According to Bloomberg, he recently sold LVMH’s private jet after being tracked down on Twitter.
According to the outlet, Arnault is an avid art collector with an estimated $10.3 billion in cash and other assets.
In conclusion
Since Arnault’s 1989 power play to take over LVMH made him famous throughout Europe, industry observers have attributed his exceptional success in a highly competitive industry to his understanding of both the creative and financial aspects of running a luxury business.
On the creative front, Arnault has proven himself an expert at hiring design talent for star brands that “speak to the ages” but “feel intensely modern.” However, because his model requires that “the counterbalance to creativity must be commerce,” he was never afraid to rein in or even fire creative executives who failed to produce.
According to an industry insider, Arnault’s strategy is “not unusual in the M&A game—just it’s unusual in this industry—he acquires brands the Wall Street way.”
With this unusual combination of financial and creative skills, Arnault combined a bankrupt company’s assets with LVMH and numerous acquired brands to form the world’s most powerful luxury conglomerate, with revenues of €44.6 billion ($51 billion).
