Bernard Arnault, the founder and CEO of luxury goods conglomerate LVMH, has a net worth of $186.3 billion and oversees a portfolio of about 70 luxury brands, including Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior. He began his career by transforming his father's construction business into a successful real estate venture, later acquiring and revitalizing companies like Boussac Saint-Frères and Christian Dior. Arnault is known for his strategic acquisitions, including the historic purchase of Tiffany & Co. for $15.8 billion, and his philanthropic efforts are notable through various humanitarian and scientific organizations.

1. BERNARD ARNAULT
THE WORLD’S RICHEST PERSON NET WORTH ($186.3 BILLION)

2. WHO IS BERNARD ARNAULT?

3. Bernard Arnault is the founder, chair, and CEO of luxury goods conglomerate LVMH,
which owns about 70 luxury brands, including Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior.

4. Born to an industrial family in Roubaix, France on March 5, 1949,
Mr. Arnault attended the Roubaix lycée and the Faidherbe lycée in Lille.
He then went on to study at the Ecole Polytechnique.
France's leading engineering school, and began work for his father's company.
EARLY LIFE

5. He joined his father’s company after graduating from college. He started planning for the
company’s expansion and growth and in 1976 he was successful in convincing his father to
liquidate the construction division of the company and invest the proceeds in a more lucrative
business.
The Arnaults received 40 million French francs from the liquidation of the construction
division which they invested in real estate business, which was then a booming sector. Now
renamed Ferinel, the company became a very successful one with a specialty in holiday
accommodation.
Bernard Arnault became the director of company development in 1974, and was named the
CEO in 1977. He succeeded his father as president of the company in 1979.
The French Socialists came to power in 1981, forcing Arnault and his family to move to the
United States. Being the astute businessman that he was, he prospered there too,
developing condominiums in Palm Beach, Florida. Eventually he began to build a U.S.
branch of his family’s property business.
CAREER

6. The political scenario in his native France changed in 1983. The French Socialists switched to a
more conservative economic course and Arnault decided to return home.
The enterprising businessman saw a lucrative opportunity when the textile firm, Boussac Saint-
Frères, went bankrupt. The textile empire comprised several businesses, including the couture
house of Christian Dior. Arnault collaborated with Antoine Bernheim, managing partner of the
investment firm of Lazard Fréres who arranged the financing for Arnault's acquisition of Boussac.
Arnault invested $15 million of his own money, and Bernheim helped him to raise the reminder of
the reported $80 million purchase price of Boussac Saint-Frères. Upon this acquisition, Arnault
sold most of the company’s assets, retaining only the prestigious Christian Dior brand and Le Bon
Marché department store. He became the CEO of Dior in 1985.
After selling off most of the assets of Boussac, Arnault gained $400 million in the process. In 1987,
he was invited to invest in LVMH by the company’s chairman, Henri Racamier. Arnault chose to
invest through a joint venture with Guinness PLC that held 24% of LVMH's shares. Over the next
couple of years, he continued to buy more shares in the company, spending several hundred
millions in the process.

7. By January 1989, Arnault had managed to gain control over 43.5% of the shares of
LVMH with 35% of the voting rights. He was then unanimously elected chairman of the
executive management board.
After taking over LVMH, he fired several of the company’s top executives and chose to
recruit new talent to revitalize the company. He was a tough taskmaster and was known
for his inclination to quickly terminate employees who did not deliver according to his
expectations.
He set about implementing an ambitious plan of growth and expansion of his businesses
and acquired several other companies over the 1990s, including the perfume firm
Guerlain (1994), Loewe (1996), Marc Jacobs (1997), Sephora (1997), and Thomas Pink
(1999).

8. Bernard Arnault’s company LMVH is engaged in a number of philanthropic activities. It
supports humanitarian, medical research and scientific organizations, such as Save the
Children, the Foundation for Hospitals in Paris, and the Princess Grace of Monaco
Foundation.
BERNARD ARNAULT PHILANTHROPIC WORKS

9. He was made a Commander of the French Legion of Honour in 2007 and Grand Officer
of the French Legion of Honour in 2011.
In 2011, he was presented with the Corporate Citizenship award from the Woodrow
Wilson International Center for Scholars.
The Museum of Modern Art's David Rockefeller Award (March 2014)
AWARD AND ACHIEVEMENT

10. •One of the world's ultimate taste-makers, Bernard Arnault oversees an empire of 70
brands including Louis Vuitton and Sephora.
•In January 2021, LVMH completed a deal for American jeweler Tiffany & Co for $15.8
billion, believed to be the biggest luxury brand acquisition ever.
•LVMH spent $3.2 billion in 2019 for luxury hospitality group, Belmond, which owns or
manages 46 hotels, trains and river cruises.
•His father made a small fortune in construction; Arnault got his start by putting up $15
million from that business to buy Christian Dior in 1985.
•Four of Arnault's five children work in corners of the LVMH empire: Frédéric, Delphine,
Antoine and Alexandre.
FORBES 2021: #3 BERNARD ARNAULT & FAMILY

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