Meet Bernard Arnault, the French billionaire who just pledged $226 million to help rebuild the Notre-Dame, controls luxury-goods empire LVMH, and is the third-richest person in the world
- Bernard Arnault just pledged to donate € 200 million, or $226 million, to help rebuild the Notre-Dame Cathedral. The cathedral was damaged in a fire on Monday evening.
- Arnault is the third-richest person in the world, having surpassed Warren Buffett in March, Bloomberg reported.
- The 70-year-old French businessman is worth an estimated $91.7 billion.
- Arnault is chairman and CEO of LVMH, the world's largest maker of luxury goods that brought in nearly $53 billion in revenue in 2018.
- Four of Arnault's five children work at LVMH brands that include Louis Vuitton, Rimowa, Berluti, and TAG Heuer.
- Visit BusinessInsider.com for more stories.
French businessman Bernard Arnault just pledged $226 million to rebuild Notre-Dame.
Arnault announced the news on Tuesday morning in a company tweet. The 800-year-old Notre-Dame Cathedral caught fire Monday evening, damaging its spire and roof. Collectively, France's superrich have already pledged over $450 milliontowards its repairs.
Arnault is the richest person in Europe; he overtook Warren Buffett in March to become the third-richest person in the world, Bloomberg reported. Arnault is worth an estimated $91.7 billion and Buffett is worth $86.3 billion, according to Bloomberg. At the time, Arnault surpassed Buffett by about $100 million.
Arnault is the chairman and CEO of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, known as LVMH, the world's largest maker of luxury goods, making him the richest person in the fashion industry. LVMH, which recorded more than $53 billion in revenue in 2018, is made up of 70 companies including Christian Dior, Louis Vuitton, Dom Perignon Champagne, TAG Heuer, and Rimowa.
Arnault's wealth is now exceeded only by Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates.
Four of Arnault's five children are part of the LVMH empire. His daughter, Delphine, is the executive vice president at Louis Vuitton and apparent heiress to LVMH.
Arnault, who lives in Paris and has a vacation home on the French Riviera, attended one of the most prestigious engineering schools in France and was named CEO of luxury goods holding company, Financiere Agache, in 1984, according to Bloomberg.
Here's a look at Arnault's career, life, and family.
Bernard Arnault is the richest person in Europe, worth an estimated $91.7 billion. On March 5, he surpassed Warren Buffett to become the third-richest person in the world.
Source: Bloomberg
The 70-year-old French businessman is the chairman and CEO of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, known as LVMH, a position he's held since 1989. LVMH is the world's largest maker of luxury goods.
Source: Bloomberg
The business is a family affair; four of Arnault's five children hold positions at LVMH brands.
Source: Bloomberg
Arnault's wealth is now exceeded only by Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates.
Source: Bloomberg
Arnault owns a 96.5% stake in Christian Dior, which controls 41% of LVMH.
Source: Bloomberg
LVMH, which recorded more than $53 billion in revenue in 2018, is made up of 70 companies that sell products such as Louis Vuitton leather goods ...
... TAG Heuer watches ...
... and Dom Perignon Champagne. In 2018, LVMH brought in $53 billion in revenue.
Source: LVMH
Arnault comes from the northern French town of Roubaix.
Source: Bloomberg
He studied engineering at the Ecole Polytechnique, a prestigious school in Paris that counts three former French presidents and three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni.
Source: Business Insider, Bloomberg
After graduating, Arnault spent a stint working for his father's construction company, Ferret-Savinel, before entering the luxury goods industry. He became CEO of luxury goods holding company, Financiere Agache, in 1984.
Source: Bloomberg
Arnault married Anne Dewavrin in 1973 and they had two children together before separating in 1990. Arnault remarried to Helene Mercier, a Canadian concert pianist, in 1991.
He reportedly wooed her by playing Chopin and other classical composers for her.
Source: Forbes
The French billionaire and his wife live on Paris's Left Bank south of the Seine River, a historic area that includes neighborhoods such as the Latin Quarter and St. Germain-des-Prés.
Source: Bloomberg, The New York Times
In their home, Arnault keeps a collection of modern and contemporary art from artists that include Jean-Michel Basquiat, Damien Hirst, Maurizio Cattelan, Andy Warhol, and Pablo Picasso.
Source: Bloomberg
Arnault has five children: two with his first wife and three with his current wife.
Source: The New York Times
Antoine Arnault and Delphine Arnault are his two children from his first marriage.
Source: The New York Times, LVMH
Delphine, Bernard's oldest daughter, is the apparent heiress to the LVMH empire.
Source: The New York Times
She started her career at American consultancy firm McKinsey & Co. in Paris and is now the executive vice president at Louis Vuitton.
In January 2019, Delphine became the youngest member of LVMH's executive committee at age 43.
Source: MDS
Delphine married Italian wine heir Alessandro Vallarino Gancia in 2005 in what Forbes called "France's wedding of the year." The couple divorced in 2010.
Source: Forbes, Business Insider
She now reportedly lives with tech billionaire Xavier Niel and has one daughter. But Delphine is notoriously private about her personal life. "I'm quite discreet," she told the Financial Times in a rare 2014 interview. "I think I’d rather focus on my work."
Source: Financial Times
Delphine's younger brother, Antoine, is chief executive of menswear label Berluti and chairman of the cashmere label Loro Piana, both LVMH brands.
Source: The New York Times, LVMH
In addition to those roles, Antoine was named head of communication and image for LVMH in June 2018.
Source: Business of Fashion
His partner is supermodel Natalia Vodianova, whom he reportedly met on a shoot for a 2008 Louis Vuitton campaign when he was the brand's head of communications.
Source: W Magazine
The couple lives in Paris with their two children and Vodianova's three children from a previous marriage.
Source: W Magazine
Alexandre, the son of Bernard Arnault and Helene Mercier, is the CEO of Rimowa, a German luggage brand owned by LVMH.
The luggage company he runs brings in more than $455 million in annual revenue.
Source: LVMH
Alexandre travels frequently between Cologne, Germany, where Rimowa luggage is made, London, his hometown of Paris, and Los Angeles, where Rimowa recently opened a new store.
Source: The New York Times
He's reportedly friends with Evan Spiegel, the chief executive of Snap, Snapchat's parent company. Spiegel called Alexandre "a really creative guy," according to The New York Times. "He's constantly thinking about the brand and how to express that."
Source: The New York Times
Alexandre's younger brother, Frederic, also has a role at LVMH. He joined the conglomerate as the strategy and digital director at Swiss luxury watch brand TAG Heuer, LVMH's largest watch brand, in 2018.
Source: The New York Times
Frederic graduated from his father's alma mater, École Polytechnique in Paris, and interned at Facebook and consulting firm McKinsey before joining LVMH as the temporary head of connected technologies at TAG Heuer in 2017.
Source: The New York Times
Arnault's youngest son, Jean, is the only one of his children not involved at LVMH.
Source: The New York Times
Like many billionaires do, Arnault travels by private jet.
Source: Getty Images
He owns a sprawling vacation villa in glitzy Saint-Tropez on the French Riviera ...
Source: Telegraph
... where he has been seen enjoying some tennis matches.
Source: Getty Images
Arnault has also reportedly spent at least $96.4 million on residential properties in Los Angeles, in the Beverly Hills, Trousdale Estates, and Hollywood Hills neighborhoods.
Source: The Real Deal
Arnault has rubbed shoulders with some of the world's influential figures, in the fashion world and otherwise. In 2017, he met President Donald Trump at Trump Tower in New York City right before Trump's inauguration to discuss expanding LVMH factories in the US.
Source: WWD
He was photographed at parties with Lady Diana, Princess of Wales.
Source: Getty Images
Arnault was reportedly friends with Apple founder Steve Jobs, who once said to Arnault: "You know Bernard, I don’t know if in 50 years my iPhone will still be a success but I can tell you, I'm sure everybody will still drink your Dom Pérignon."
Source: CNBC
Former Goldman Sachs chief executive Lloyd Blankfein once called Arnault "a complete visionary," adding that he "saw the increase of wealth in the world."
Source: CNBC
Arnault is reportedly longtime friends with former French president Nicolas Sarkozy. Arnault was a witness at the former president's wedding to Carla Bruni.
Source: The New York Times
Here, Arnault can be seen shaking hands with Vladimir Putin during the Russian president's 2003 visit to the Chateau Cheval Blanc vineyard — owned by LVMH — in France.
Source: LVMH
Arnault considered legendary late designer and Chanel creative director Karl Lagerfeld a good friend. "The death of this dear friend deeply saddens me, my wife and my children," Arnault said in a statement. "We loved and admired him deeply. Fashion and culture has lost a great inspiration."
Source: LVMH
Arnault has a longstanding public rivalry with Francois Pinault, the second-richest man in France, who's worth $34.3 billion.
Pinault is the founder and CEO of French luxury brand Kering, which owns brands including Gucci and Yves St. Laurent. The billionaire also owns Christie's auction house.
Source: Bloomberg
Arnault's LVMH originally tried to acquire a majority stake in Gucci in 1999, but Pinault ultimately snatched up the brand.
Source: Forbes
Over the years, Arnault has built LVMH into the largest luxury conglomerate in the world and earned himself an imposing nickname: "the wolf in the cashmere coat."
Source: The New York Times
He's behind the creation of Fondation Louis Vuitton, a Frank Gehry-designed contemporary art museum and performance space in Paris that opened in 2014.
Source: The New York Times
As the world's third-richest person, Arnault is getting richer at an astonishing rate. In January 2019, he made $4.3 billion in a single day after LVMH shares surged 6.9%.
Source: Bloomberg
And between the end of January and February 27, 2019, he added another $3.9 billion to his fortune, which brought his total net worth to only $2.3 billion less than Warren Buffett's.
Source: Bloomberg, Bloomberg Billionaires Index
Arnault's jump into third place on Bloomberg's wealth ranking is the first time he's been ranked higher than fourth.
Source: Bloomberg
