Bernard Arnault
French businessman who built LVMH into the world's largest luxury goods company.
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Arnault co-founded LVMH in 1987 with Alain Chevalier and Henry Racamier.[1] By January 1989, he controlled 43.5% of LVMH's shares and was elected chairman.[2] Under his leadership, LVMH's annual sales and profit rose fivefold in eleven years.[3] In November 2024, the Arnault family acquired a majority stake in French football club Paris FC.[4]
He started working at his father's firm Ferret-Savinel and in 1976 convinced his father to sell the construction division and concentrate on real estate.[5][6] Within two years of buying Boussac, he dismissed 9,000 employees, which led to him being called "The Terminator".[7]
What the cited sources add
The same source states that Arnault still plays piano and tennis as major hobbies.[6] A Decanter article reports that Arnault bought Château Cheval Blanc with Albert Frère in 1998 for a reported €155 million.[8] The France24 profile describes Arnault as "one of the world's ultimate tastemakers" according to Forbes.[6] The same source mentions that Arnault owns a private island in the Bahamas.[6]
References
- Wikipedia, "Bernard Arnault" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Alain Chevalier, co-founder of LVMH, dies aged 87", Fashion United, November 5, 2018 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Bernard Arnault" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Greenhouse, "A LUXURY FIGHT TO THE FINISH", The New York Times, 1989-12-17; Friedman, "Tiffany Deal Is a Signature Move by the Sun Tzu of Luxury", The New York Times, 2020-10-30; Greenhouse, "A LUXURY FIGHT TO THE FINISH", The New York Times, 1989-12-17 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Bernard Arnault" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Bernard Arnault, a French billionaire businessman and art collector", Dailymi, 2021-03-05 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Bernard Arnault" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Bernard Arnault partners with Red Bull to buy Paris FC in latest move into sport", Financial Times; Spencer, "France's Arnault family says buying Paris FC soccer club is long-term investment", Reuters, 20 November 2024; "Paris FC join PSG in Ligue 1 for 1st time in 46 yrs", ESPN, 2 May 2025 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Bernard Arnault" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Team, "Behind The Billions: Bernard Arnault", Forbes (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- "Bernard Arnault: France's 'wolf-in-cashmere' billionaire", France24, 22 January 2020. facts only, no text reused. france24.com
- Wikipedia, "Bernard Arnault" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Friedman, "Tiffany Deal Is a Signature Move by the Sun Tzu of Luxury", The New York Times, 2020-10-30 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Decanter, "LVMH buys 50% share in Chateau Cheval Blanc", Decanter, 2009-08-14. facts only, no text reused. decanter.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Bernard Arnault (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Bernard Arnault (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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