He returned to France and made his foray into luxury goods in 1984,when he took over Boussac Saint-Freres,the bankrupt textile group that owned a gem:Christian Dior. He spun off most of the company’s other businesses and used the windfall to buy a controlling stake in LVMH,whose two main companies,Louis Vuitton and Moet Hennessy,had merged in 1987.
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Over the next three decades,he turned LVMH into a luxury behemoth selling Champagne,wine,spirits,fashion,leather goods,watches,jewellery,hotel stays,perfume and cosmetics through more than 5,500 stores worldwide. He was quick to grasp that China would become a key market,opening the first Louis Vuitton store in Beijing in 1992.
LVMH earlier this year lifted the age limit of its chief executive officer. That would allow Arnault to stay at the helm until 80,a sign he intends to be in charge for longer.
In his quest to stay under the radar,Arnault said in October that LVMH sold its private jet. Twitter accounts follow the planes of billionaires in an attempt to shame them about carbon emissions,and the subject became a hot topic in France,with some politicians proposing to ban or tax private jets.
“With all these stories,the group had a plane and we sold it,” Arnault said on Radio Classique,which is owned by LVMH. “The result now is that no one can see where I go because I rent planes when I use private planes.”
Billionaire battles
Though built on mostly successful acquisitions,LVMH and Arnault have had famous losses,too.
He was bested by Francois Pinault,one of France’s richest people,in buying Gucci,which is now part of Kering. He also failed in a hostile takeover attempt of Hermes International,the Birkin bag maker owned by the country’s richest family. A member of the Hermes clan called him “a wolf in cashmere” for the predatory ways he attempted to take over their company.
Arnault isbuilding a dynasty of his own within LVMH. He has five children from two marriages,all of whom currently work at the firm or one of its brands. His second child,Antoine,45,just got an expanded role at holding company Christian Dior SE.
Arnault,who’s known to keep a strict diet and play tennis regularly,is also an art collector and led the opening in 2014 of the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris’s Bois de Boulogne. The venue is a monumental private art museum designed by Frank Gehry,meant to house LVMH’s corporate collection as well as Arnault’s.
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Bloomberg’s wealth index estimates the vast majority of Arnault’s fortune stems from his 97.5 per cent stake in Christian Dior,which,in turn,controls about 41 per cent of LVMH. The family holds an additional LVMH stake of roughly 6 per cent.
Arnault has an estimated $US10.3 billion in cash and other assets,based on an analysis that includes dividends,taxes and charitable contributions.
Arnault becomes the fifth person ever to rank No. 1 on Bloomberg’s wealth index since it debuted in 2012. The others were Carlos Slim,Bill Gates,Jeff Bezos and Musk.