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Bernard Arnault does not follow trends—he sets them, owns them, and expands them into billion-dollar empires. From engineering roots to the corridors of luxury, Bernard has transformed calculated risk into a lasting legacy. He is not just the man behind Louis Vuitton, Dior, and Sephora; he is the architect of modern luxury.

Explore how Bernard Arnault built LVMH into a global powerhouse and rose to the top of the luxury industry.

Source: Decanter

Bernard Arnault Biography

Early Life & Education

Born in Roubaix, Bernard is the son of Marie-Josèphe Savinel and Jean Lèon Arnault. His grandmother raised him in a strict Catholic-Auvergne style. Bernard completed his education at Catholic schools, the Lycèe Maxence Van Der Meersch and Lycèe Faidherbe, and also took classical piano lessons in his childhood. In 1971, he graduated from the leading engineering school of France, the École Polytechnique. 

Early Career at Ferret-Savinel

After completing his graduation, Bernard began working at his father’s civil engineering company, Ferret-Savinel. He convinced his father for three years to shift the focus of the firm to real estate; thus, they sold their industrial construction division and renamed the company Ferinel. Then, they acquired a textile company and also relocated their headquarters. They renamed their real estate branch as George V Group. 

Entry into the Luxury Business

From 1978 to 1984, Bernard worked as President at Ferret-Savinel. In 1984, Bernard learned that the French government was planning to choose someone to take over the Boussac Saint-Frères empire, a textile and retail conglomerate owned by Christian Dior. 

With the help of Antoine Bernheim, a senior partner of Lazard Frères, Bernard acquired Financière Agache, a luxury goods company. There, he was positioned as the CEO and eventually won the bidding war for Boussac Saint-Frères. After buying the company, Bernard laid off 9,000 workers in two years. Thus, he was nicknamed ‘The Terminator’. 

In 1987, the company was profitable again and booked earnings of $112 million on a revenue stream of $1.9 billion.

Establishment of LVMH

Source: Wikimedia

Bernard began working with Alain Chevalier, CEO of Moët Hennessy, and Henry Racamier, president of Louis Vuitton, to form LVMH. 

In 1988, he paid $1.6 billion to form a holding company with Guinness that held around 24% of LVMH shares. Rumours were spreading across the industry that the Louis Vuitton group was buying LVMH stocks to form a ‘Blocking Minority’. Hence, Bernard spent $600 million to buy 13.5% more of LVMH and became its largest shareholder. 

From its establishment, LVMH has been created on the premise that the conglomerate would be too large for a single hostile invader. But they failed to take into account the internal takeover attempts. This fault was too large to ignore when Bernard had a different strategic vision from Henry Racamier, the president of Louis Vuitton. Hence, again, in 1989, Bernard spent another $500 million to gain control of 43.5% of LVMH shares and 35% of its voting rights. Eventually, he received the ‘Blocking Minority’ that he required to stop the falling apart of the LVMH group.

Expansion and Growth of  LVMH

Bernard discarded the powers of Henry Racemier and ousted him from the board of directors. With Bernard’s leadership, the company’s annual sales and profits started increasing at a rapid rate. In July 1988, Bernard acquired Cèline and sponsored French fashion designer Christian Lacroix to market their luxury clothing line. 

In January 1989, without any opposition, Bernard got elected as chairman of the executive management board. He began leading the company with an ambitious development plan to transform it into one of the largest luxury groups in the world, parallel to Swiss luxury giant Richemont and French-based Kering. 

In 1993, LVMH acquired Berluti and Kenzo and bought the French economic newspaper La Tribune. In 1994, LVMH acquired the perfume company Guerlain, and in 1996, it bought Loewe. In 1997, Bernard bought Marc Jacobs and Sephora. In 1998, Bernard, in a private capacity, with Albert Frère, purchased Château Cheval Blanc. 

In 1999, his family holding company, Groupe Arnault, invested in Netflix. In the same year, LVMH Tower was established in New York to manage the presence of LVMH in the United States. Bernard acquired the Thomas Pink in 1999, Emilio Pucci in 2000, and Fendi, DKNY, and La Samaritaine in 2001. 

Bernard was attracted to Gucci, an Italian leather goods company. At that time, Gucci was run by Tom Ford and Domenico De Sole. Bernard cautiously acquired 5% stake in the company even before being detected. Gucci called it a ‘Creeping takeover’.  

However, Bernard was able to acquire a stake of 34.4% by insisting to them that he wanted to be a supportive and unassertive stakeholder. Therefore, De Sole proposed that Bernard should stop increasing his stake in Gucci, and in exchange, he would be able to secure board representation. But Bernard rejected the proposal. 

Then, De Sole discovered a loophole that allowed him to issue shares with only board approval, and for every share LVMH would buy, he created more for his employees, eventually diluting Bernard’s stake. The fight continued and got settled in 2001, when a legal ruling, LVMH sold its shares and stepped down with $700 million in profit. 

In 2007, Bernard did not get the success from La Tribune; hence, he sold it to buy another economic newspaper, Les Échos, for €240 million. In 2009, LVMH acquired Bernard’s share to invest in the wine property of the group, Château d’Yquem. Bernard then invested in many companies, including Boo, Libertysurf, and Zebank, through his holding Europatweb.

Beginning of Bernard Arnault Successful Journey

Source: LinkedIn

In 2001, Blue Capital announced that Bernard had joined hands with the California property firm, owned by Colony Capital, which is 10.69% of France’s largest supermarket retailer and the world’s second-largest food distributor, Carrefour.  In 2008, he entered the yacht business by buying Princess Yachts for 253 million euros. Then, he eventually also took control of the Royal van Lent shipyard. 

From 2010 to 2013, Bernard served as a member of the Board of Advisors of the Malaysian 1MDB fund. In 2011, he invested around $641 million in establishing LCapitalAsia. On 7 March 2011, he announced the acquisition of 50.4% of the family-owned shares of the Italian jeweller Bulgari, to make a tender offer for the rest of the shares, which were owned by the public.  

In 2014, Bernard entered into a joint venture with the Italian fashion brand Marco De Vincenzo, holding a minority 45% stake in the partnership. In 2016, LVMH sold DKNY to G-III Apparel Group. Bernad announced the acquisition of the entire Christian Dior by LVMH in 2017. In the same year, the company recorded sales of €42.6 billion, 13% over the previous year, with Bernard’s guidance. 

In 2019, Bernard planned to acquire Tiffany & Co. for $16.2 billion. But in 2020, LVMH stated that the takeover would not proceed and that the deal was invalid because Tiffany handled the business during the COVID-19 pandemic. Tiffany filed a lawsuit against LVMH to compel the purchase or assess damages against the defendant. The case continued and concluded in October 2020, when Tiffany and LVMH agreed on the original takeover plan with a reduced price of $15.8 billion. Finally, LVMH completed the purchase of Tiffany in January 2021.  

With Bernard Arnault, LVMH has become the largest company by market capitalisation in the eurozone, with a record of 313 billion euros in May 2021. His strategy was to promote the brands as a business strategy. As a result, brands under the LVMH umbrella are still seen as independent firms with their own history. 

In 2024, the Arnault family acquired a majority ownership stake in French football club Paris FC, which was then playing in Ligue 2, the second tier of the French football system. They achieved promotion to Ligue 1 for the first time in 46 years. LVMH was also the lead sponsor of the 2024 Paris Olympics, and, with Bernard, 200 million euros were contributed for the restoration of Notre Dame Cathedral. 

Today, the LVMH empire has onboarded over 75 fashion and cosmetics brands, including Louis Vuitton and Sephora and Bernard & his family are recognised as the 5th richest people in the world with a net worth of $178 billion.  

Bernard’s Awards and Achievements

• In 2006, Bernard was honoured with the Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic. 
• In 2007, Bernard received the Commandeur de la Légion d’Honneur.
• In 2011, he was recognised with the Grand Officer of de la Legion d’Honneur.
• In 2011, he also received the Woodrow Wilson Award for Global Corporate Citizenship.
• In 2012, he was awarded the Honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.
• In 2014, Bernard received the Museum of Modern Art’s David Rockefeller Award. 
• On 31 December 2023, he was recognised as a Grand Cross of the Légion d’Honneur. 
• Bernard was also recognised as the Commandeur of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. 

Conclusion

Bernard Arnault did not just build brands; he built an empire where each brand operates as an individual kingdom under one rule. His success story combines unmatched efficiency with long-term vision, which is also the strategy implemented behind LVMH, leading the global fashion industry. Today, with over 75 luxury brands, a billion-dollar net worth, and increasing influence from fashion to football, Bernard’s legacy is not coming to an end. Hence, it is a testament to how power, when paired with patience and precision, reorganises the rules of the game. 

FAQs

Q-1 Who is Bernard Arnault?
Bernard is a French billionaire businessman and an art collector. He is also the Chairman and CEO of LVMH.

Q-2 What does LVMH stand for?
LVMH stands for Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy.

Q-3 What is the net worth of Bernard Arnault and his family?
The net worth of Bernard Arnault and his family is $178 billion.