Bernard Arnault
Paris, France
Bachelor of Arts/Science, Ecole Polytechnique de Paris
France
LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton | Louis Vuitton | Sephora
LVMH
$100,800,000,000
4
#4 Billionaires 2019
#56 Powerful People 2018
One of the world's ultimate taste-makers, Bernard Arnault oversees an empire of 70 brands including Louis Vuitton and Sephora. His luxury goods group, LVMH, posted record sales and profits in 2018, thanks in part to increased spending by Chinese customers.The arts patron is the visionary behind the $135 million Frank Gehry-designed Foundation Louis Vuitton museum near Paris, opened in 2014.Arnault and LVMH pledged over $220 million to help repair the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris following a devastating fire in mid April 2019.His daughter Delphine is executive vice president of Louis Vuitton, and a member of LVMH's executive committee.His father made a small fortune in construction; Arnault put up $15 million from that business to buy Christian Dior in 1985.
Arnault apparently wooed his wife, Helene Mercier, a concert pianist, by playing Chopin and other classical composersLVMH is spending $3.2 billion for luxury hospitality group, Belmond, which owns or manages 46 hotels, trains and river cruises including Cipriani in Venice.
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