On March 5th, 1949, in the French city of Roubaix, Bernard Arnault entered the world. His mother, Marie-Josèphe Savinel, was a tailor, and his father, Jean Leon Arnault, ran a civil engineering firm. When Arnault was born, he was the first of five kids.
Educational background
After graduating from the Lycée Maxence Van Der Meersch in Roubaix, Arnault continued his engineering education at the École Polytechnique in Palaiseau. After that, he went on to earn an engineering degree from the École des Mines in Paris.
Marie-Josèphe Savinel, daughter of Étienne Savinel, was a “fascination for Dior” and his mother. Jean Léon Arnault Sr, his father, was a manufacturer and alumnus of École Centrale Paris who founded and ran the civil engineering firm Ferret-Savinel.
Early life
Lycée Maxence Van Der Meersch in Roubaix and Lycée Faidherbe in Lille are two of Arnault’s alma maters. He joined his father’s business after graduating from France’s top engineering school, École Polytechnique, in 1971. After successfully persuading his father to refocus the company’s focus on real estate, he sold the industrial construction division three years later, and the company was renamed Ferinel. The real estate division was rebranded as the George V Group after the company acquired a textile firm and relocated its headquarters. Nexity is the result of a sale of real estate assets to Compagnie Générale des Eaux (CGE).
Real estate industry
He spent two years at Ferret-Savinel, the construction firm he and his father founded. After that, he went to work for the American firm FERMOD for three years as an engineer.
In 1976, he joined the newly renamed family business, Arnault Group, and helped steer its growth into the real estate industry. The famous department store Le Bon Marché was one of the many assets he oversaw being purchased.
Arnault expanded the Arnault Group and in 1984 bought the Christian Dior design house. He took over as CEO of Dior and immediately set about modernizing the company by launching innovative new products and broadening Dior’s global reach.
Because of his fortune, he was able to purchase additional high-end fashion houses like Louis Vuitton and Fendi after his success with Dior. In his current role as CEO of LVMH, Arnault oversees a portfolio of luxury brands that include Mot & Chandon, Bulgari, and Sephora.
He has received numerous accolades for his financial skills and services to the fashion industry. The French government decorated him with the Legion of Honor in 2011, and in 2021, Forbes magazine ranked him as the third richest person in the world.
Career
After finishing university, he went to work for his father’s firm. In 1976, he convinced his father to liquidate the building division of the company and invest the earnings in a more lucrative business, and he then began making plans for the company’s expansion and growth.
The family placed the forty million French francs they got from the building division’s insolvency into the then-booming real estate market. The company, now known as Ferinel, has found great success as a provider of temporary lodging for tourists.
After starting up as the company’s director of development in 1974, Bernard Arnault was promoted to chief executive officer in 1977. In 1979, he took over as president of the corporation from his father. After the Socialists took power in France in 1981, Arnault and his family were compelled to relocate to the United States. As one might expect from a guy of his business acumen, he also found success in Palm Beach, Florida, where he had begun developing condominiums. After some time had passed, he started expanding his family’s real estate firm into the United States. In 1983, there was a shift in the political climate in his own France. Arnault decided to return to France after the Socialist Party there adopted a more conservative economic policy.
Acquisition price of Boussac Saint-Frères
When Boussac Saint-Frères, a textile company, declared bankruptcy, the innovative businessman recognized a golden opportunity. The textile conglomerate included Christian Dior’s fashion house among its many brands. To fund his purchase of Boussac, Arnault worked with Antoine Bernheim, managing partner at Lazard Fréres, an investing business.
The alleged $80 million acquisition price of Boussac Saint-Frères was funded in part by Arnault’s personal investment of $15 million and in part by Bernheim’s assistance. After making this purchase, Arnault liquidated most of the business holdings, keeping just the Christian Dior fashion house and the Le Bon Marché department store. He joined Dior in 1985 as its chief executive officer.
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