Bernard Arnault Bio
Bernard Arnault is 69 years old business personality from France. He is a great investor and art collector especially known for being the chairman and CEO of LVMH, a French multinational luxury goods conglomerate.
Counting on his wealth he is the fourth richest person in the world and the richest in Europe according to Forbes Magazine.
Early life
Bernard was born on 5th March 1949 in Roubaix, France as Bernard Jean Etienne Arnault to Jean Leon Arnault. His father used to run a civil engineering company, Ferret-Savinel and was also a manufacturer.
He attended Lycee Maxence Van Der Meersch and Ecole Polytechnique earning his engineering degree in 1971 and then decided to continue his career by joining in with his father’s business.
Career
He started his career by taking control of his father’s construction firm Ferret-Savinel in 1971. He soon realized the need to change the focus of the company towards real estate and changed the name to Ferinel Inc. after eight years.
Later he with Antoine Bernheim decided to purchase
a bankrupt textile company, Boussac Saint-Freres with $80 million. The company used to own the fashion house of Christian Dior and Le Bon Marche department store.
In 1987, he invested in LVMH through a joint venture with Guinness PLC but soon took over full control by grabbing the position of chairman of the executive management board.
He expanded the business by acquiring fashion companies like Christian Lacroix, Givenchy, and Kenzo; the leather goods companies Loewe, Celine and Berluti; the jewelry Fred Joailler; the DFS group and the beauty retailer Sephora.
He even came to limelight by contributing his best to revitalize French couture in 1995 with the appointment of British fashion designer John Galliano.
Presently, he is serving as the CEO of LVMH transforming the company into one of the largest luxury groups in the world.
Personal life
He got married twice. His first marriage was with Anne Dewavrin in 1973. The marriage didn’t last long and ended with a divorce in 1990.
Both have a daughter Delphine and a son Antoine together. He later married Helene Mercier in 1991 and have three sons; Alexandre, Frederic, and Jean together.
Achievements
He is the recipient of the Woodrow Wilson Award for Global Corporate Citizenship in 2011 and has also received the David Rockefeller Award in 2014 given by the Museum of Modern Art.
Net worth
It is estimated to be around US$4.7 billion as on November 2018.
References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Arnault
https://www.forbes.com/profile/bernard-arnault/#7b95f51c66fa