Bernard Arnault is the European fashion tycoon and owner of some of the world’s biggest brands who once dethroned Elon Musk as the world’s richest person after being valued at a staggering $200 billion.
Dubbed the “wolf in cashmere”, Arnault is the man behind some of the world’s best-known luxury brands, owning nearly all of Christian Dior and more than 40pc of LVMH, the company behind Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, Moët & Chandon and more.
The 75-year-old Frenchman wasn’t always a fashion mogul, with a humble beginning in his father’s construction company and a brief stint in real estate. The change came when he purchased a struggling Boussac aint-Freres, the owners of Christian Dior in the 1980s.
Getting his first taste in the luxury world Arnault he quickly became of infamous for his aggressive business practices earning him the nickname “The terminator”.
His devoted faith in the luxury goods market over has always been clear. Recounting a conversation with Steve Jobs to the New York Times he said: “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.”
His wealth rapidly expanded after the merging of Louis Vuitton and Moet Hennesey where, over the next four decades, he began to sweep up the luxury goods sector with brands such as Bulgari, Belvedere, Kenxo, Dom Perignon, Givenchy, Tag Heuer and French beauty chain Sephora all coming under his umbrella.
His companies have continued to boom in the post-pandemic world, with LVMH reporting a revenue of $93.2 billion last year, briefly dethroning Elon Musk in March to become the world’s richest man. A dip in the stock led his worth to fall slightly but he still remains the only non-American in the top 10 of the Forbes billionaire list – a clear outlier being surrounded by U.S tech tycoons like Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Google’s Larry Page.
He is known to be a ruthless operator, having engaged in a longstanding public battle against rival Francois Pinault, the founder of direct competitor Kering, owner of Yves St.Laurent. According to Forbes, the feud goes back to 1999 when LVMH lost to Kering in the battle to acquire Gucci and with Arnault holding a grudge ever since.