Bernard Arnault Bio | Wiki
Bernard Arnault ( Full name: Bernard Jean Étienne Arnault) is a French business magnate, art collector, and investor. He co-founded LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton SE. He currently serves as the chairman and chief executive of the company. LVMH Moët Hennessy is the world’s largest luxury goods company. Bernard, a centibillionaire, is one of the wealthiest people in the world according to a 2022 Forbes report.
Bernard Arnault Age
He was born on March 5, 1949, in Roubaix, France. Bernard is 73 years old.
Bernard Arnault Height
He is a man of above-average stature. Bernard stands at the height of 6 ft 1 in ( Approx 1.85 m)
Bernard Arnault Family
He was born in Roubaix, France to his mother Marie-Josèphe Savinel and his father Jean Léon Arnault. Marie is the daughter of Étienne Savinel and had a “fascination for Dior.” Bernard’s father was a manufacturer and graduate of École Centrale Paris. He owned the civil engineering company Ferret-Savinel.
Bernard Arnault Education
He attended Lycée Maxence Van Der Meersch in Roubaix. Later, Bernard joined Lycée Faidherbe in Lille. He graduated from the École Polytechnique in 1971. This Polytechnique is France’s leading engineering school. Following his graduation, Bernard started work for his father’s company. Three years later, he convinced his father to shift the focus of the company to real estate.
The civil engineering company Ferret-Savinel sold the industrial construction division and was renamed Ferinel. The company renamed the real estate branch to the George V Group after the acquisition of a textile company and the relocation of its headquarters. Later, the real estate assets were sold to Compagnie Générale des Eaux (CGE), eventually becoming Nexity.
Bernard Arnault Wife
He married Anne Dewavrin in 1973. They gave birth to two children namely Delphine and Antoine. Bernard and Anne separated in 1990. He married his second wife called Hélène Mercier in 1991. She is a Canadian concert pianist. The duo share three children namely Alexandre, Frédéric, and Jean. Currently, the couple lives in Paris.
Bernard Arnault Son | Children
He has five children, two from his first marriage to Anne Dewavrin and three from his second marriage to Hélène Mercier All five children (Delphine, Antoine, Alexandre, Frédéric, and Jean) have official roles in brands controlled by Bernard, along with his niece called Stephanie Watine Arnault. Frédéric is CEO of TAG Heuer, Alexandre is EVP of Tiffany & Co, and Jean is Director of Marketing and Development at Louis Vuitton. His daughter Delphine has been the partner of Xavier Niel since 2010. Xavier Niel is a French billionaire businessman active in the telecommunications and technology industry.
Bernard Arnault Companies
He is a Roubaix, France native, and a French businessman. Bernard is best known as the chairman and CEO of the French conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA. This is the largest luxury-products company in the world. He graduated from the École Polytechnique in Paris earning a degree in engineering. Bernard took control of his father’s construction firm Ferret-Savinel in 1971.
He changed the company’s name to Férinel Inc. and shifted its focus to real estate eight years later. With $15 million of his own money, Bernard and the managing partner of the French bank Lazard Frères and Co., called Antoine Bernheim raised the $80 million necessary to buy Boussac Saint-Frères. This was a bankrupt textile company that owned the fashion house of Christian Dior. In 1987, Bernard was invited to invest in LVMH by Henri Racamier who was the company’s chairman.
Bernard Arnault Business
Bernard ousted Racamier in 1990 by investing through a joint venture with Guinness PLC. He started to sweep a slew of fashion companies into the LVMH fold. Givenchy, Christian Lacroix, and Kenzo; the leather goods companies Loewe, Céline, as well as Berluti; the jeweler Fred Joailler; the DFS group which is the world’s biggest duty-free chain, and the beauty retailer Sephora as well. In 1995, Bernard was known in Europe as the man who revitalized French couture by appointing John Galliano, a British fashion designer to replace the venerable Hubert de Givenchy at the latter’s Paris fashion house.
The “Pope of Fashion,” moved Galliano to Christian Dior a year later as Bernard was dubbed by Women’s Wear Daily. The brash British fashion designer Alexander McQueen was appointed to replace him at Givenchy. Bernard then hired a young American designer called Marc Jacobs to the post of creative director at Louis Vuitton, a maker of luxury leather goods. LVMH acquired a majority stake in Jacobs’s eponymous line the same year. although all three designers left their positions eventually, Bernard’s fashion foresight had revived interest in these traditional fashion houses by the early 21st century.
Bernard Arnault Brands
He continued to acquire luxury brands such as the Italian company Fendi in 2003, the iconic French department store La Samaritaine in 2010, Italian jewelry brand Bulgari in 2011, as well as the classic American jeweler Tiffany & Co. in 2021. Also, Bernard built the Fondation Louis Vuitton in 2014. This is a contemporary art museum in the Bois de Boulogne, Paris. The museum is designed by Canadian American architect Frank Gehry. Bernard was named Commander of the Legion of Honour, one of France’s highest distinctions in 2007.
Bernard Arnault Religion
Though the Bernard family is not Jewish, his company has Jewish ties. The origin of LVMH as a textile dynamo started when Bernard together with Jewish banker Antoine Bernheim raised funds to buy the company that owned Christian Dior. Currently, one of the best minds behind LVMH is celebrity Jewish designer Marc Jacobs.
Bernard Arnault Richest Man In The World
He became the richest person in fashion, topping Zara’s Amancio Ortega in April 1999. Bernard was paid €7.8 million as CEO of the LVMH group in 2016. He became the second-richest man in the world in July 2019 with a net worth of $103 billion. In December 2019, Bernard briefly surpassed Jeff Bezos to become the richest person in the world.
He again for a short time became the richest man in the world in January 2020. Bernard saw his wealth shrink by $30 billion during the COVID-19 pandemic, as sales of luxury goods plummeted. He regained the status of the wealthiest man in the world on August 5, 2021, with his net worth climbing to $198.4 billion. This happened as sales of LVMH’s luxury goods surged in China and other parts of Asia.
Bernard Arnault Forbes
Forbes has listed Bernard as “Bernard Arnault & Family” on the Forbes Billionaires list. Forbes estimates the Family fortune to be $158 billion in 2022. This estimation positioned him ahead of Bill Gates. Bernard is the owner of the 70 m (230 ft) converted research vessel Amadeus, which was sold in late 2015. His current 101.5 m (333 ft) yacht Symphony was built in the Netherlands by Feadship.
Bernard Arnault Net Worth
Forbes estimates his fortune to be $158 billion in 2022.
How Old Is Bernard Arnault
Bernard is 73 years old. He was born on March 5, 1949, in Roubaix, France.
How Did Bernard Arnault Get Rich
He became the richest person in fashion, topping Zara’s Amancio Ortega in April 1999. Bernard was paid €7.8 million as CEO of the LVMH group in 2016.
Who Is Bernard Arnault Married To
He married Anne Dewavrin in 1973. The two have two children namely Delphine and Antoine. Bernard and Anne separated in 1990. He married his second wife called Hélène Mercier in 1991. The duo share three children namely Alexandre, Frédéric, and Jean.