Bernard Arnault
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| Bernard Arnault |
Bernard Arnault is a French billionaire businessman and art collector. He was born on March 5, 1949, in Roubaix, France. Arnault is the Chairman and CEO of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, the world's largest luxury goods company. LVMH owns over 70 luxury brands, including Louis Vuitton, Dior, Fendi, and Bulgari.
Arnault's father was a manufacturer and owner of a construction company, and his mother was an entrepreneur. He studied engineering at the École Polytechnique in Paris and completed his military service in the French Army.
In 1971, Arnault joined his father's company and helped transform it into a real estate company. He then acquired Christian Dior in 1985 with the help of a group of investors. He subsequently became the Chairman of the fashion house and restructured it to become one of the leading luxury brands in the world.
In 1987, Arnault founded LVMH with the merger of Moët Hennessy and Louis Vuitton. The company has since grown to become the world's largest luxury goods company, with over 160,000 employees and revenue of over €44 billion in 2020.
Arnault's net worth is estimated at over $180 billion, making him one of the wealthiest people in the world. He has been named the richest person in Europe several times and the third-richest person in the world as of March 2023.
Arnault is also a philanthropist and has donated millions of dollars to various causes, including education, health, and the arts. He is an art collector and has built one of the world's most significant art collections. In 2014, he opened the Louis Vuitton Foundation for Creation, a contemporary art museum in Paris.