Things are rarely quiet around Bernard Arnault. Supposed and actual news gives the Frenchman a permanent media presence that puts other business leaders in the shade. Something always gets people talking. As there is the handling of the bear market in the global luxury market, which Arnault's LVMH group dominates with Louis Vuitton, Dior and more than 70 other luxury brands. Or his incredible family fortune, currently worth around 135 billion euros, which has now made the richest European the richest person in the world.
Other popular topics include Arnault's growing influence in spheres such as media, art, sports and real estate and his proximity to rulers of all forms of government. Not to mention the ongoing question of which of his five children could inherit the seventy-seven-year-old patriarch on the LVMH throne. Or how harmonious things are in the family. What caused malice and irritation was the fact that his wife, the Canadian pianist Hélène Mercier-Arnault, was detached from corporate communications and chatted in interviews about her husband's habit of sleeping in his underwear and about politics.
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Most recently, a six-part series of articles in “Le Monde” made headlines. Despite months of research, including conversations with Arnault himself, his children and LVMH managers, the French newspaper uncovered little that was really new. The three-page reply that Arnault posted online at the end of July received greater attention - on a newly created account on the X platform.
The retort drips with biting sarcasm. Among other things, Arnault makes fun of claims in “Le Monde” that visitors wearing a tie from competitor Hermès are not allowed into his office; “under the seal of secrecy” he declares that he owns several himself. He also ironically admits to having whispered in the ears of every French president since François Mitterrand; he would have been better off just talking to his dog. Arnault scoffs that he still wants to solve the excellent crossword puzzles in “Le Monde”.
He remains loyal to his homeland
The publication of this replica is remarkable. Until now, Arnault has not been known to pay attention to the public hype surrounding him. “I don’t care about the media that reports on me,” he recently told podcaster Guillaume Pley in one of his rare interviews. This is usually “so wrong that it’s funny”.
But Arnault doesn't seem to be completely indifferent to what France's leading intellectual publication “Le Monde” writes about him. Between irony and mockery, he makes it clear in his reply that he would like to be more faithful to the truth. And at least a little more appreciation of his life's achievements. He clearly dislikes the image of a hard-hearted entrepreneur who is only a patron to save taxes and whose family members are constantly scheming. It is incomprehensible to him why “Le Monde” took a different tone in a series about the Chanel owners. The fact that his daughter's partner, the colorful internet billionaire Xavier Niel, is a significant shareholder in the newspaper is a piquant side issue.
If you talk to long-time companions, you get the picture of a man who feels misunderstood by quite a few compatriots. On the one hand, he knows how critically the rich people are viewed in France; On the other hand, it's annoying that he of all people is always the negative symbol. Left-wing populists like Jean-Luc Mélenchon like to work on Arnault. Their repeated warnings about ever higher taxes are a hit for them. Environmental activists denounced his private jet flights for years before the LVMH boss got fed up and sold the plane. During “yellow vest” protests, his likeness was seen on hostile banners.
The lack of understanding stems from the fact that Arnault is not one of those super-rich people who only line their own pockets and park their assets in tax havens. The Frenchman remains loyal to his homeland. LVMH, with its promise of handcrafted “made in France” luxury, is the largest private employer and largest payer of corporate tax in France. He operates nearly 120 manufacturing plants and artisan businesses there, although demand for his handbags, perfumes and champagne is largely global. Today, less than ten percent of LVMH's sales come from the homeland, but around half of the corporate tax paid.
The career was mapped out
However, the Frenchman cannot be said to be vulnerable. His delicate stature, his thoughtful manner of speaking and his distinguished demeanor can initially give a different impression. In fact, Arnault has always been a tough doer who reveals little fragility with iron discipline and ascetic rigor. Even after taking over the textile and trading group Boussac Saint-Frères, which was on the verge of collapse and with which his career in the luxury world began in 1984, he did not act squeamishly. Arnault essentially only kept the fashion brand Christian Dior and the Paris department store Le Bon Marché from the group portfolio. He separated from the other activities and with it from thousands of employees. He was then called “Terminator”.
A few years later, in the late 1980s, Arnault lived up to his nickname. After the merger of Louis Vuitton and Moët Hennessy, Arnault cleverly played opponents against each other. He emerged from the power struggle as the largest shareholder and CEO. Now he was also considered the “Wolf in Kashmir” who takes no prisoners when in doubt. Step by step, he then shaped LVMH into a luxury empire by purchasing and integrating dozens of brands. He only had to cope with two major defeats: when his French arch-rival François Pinault snatched the luxury Italian brand Gucci from him and when the Hermès family successfully fended off his secret takeover attempt.
The post-war child born in the northern French industrial town of Roubaix was born with discipline and rigor. His father was an engineer and ran the construction company Ferret-Savinel, which was founded by Arnault's maternal grandfather. His parents instilled their work ethic in him, Arnault said in his most recent interview - in which he explained that he also introduced his children to the corporate world at a very early age. His grandfather, who fought in both world wars, took him to the construction site when he was a child.
The career was mapped out. After graduating from the elite École Polytechnique, the engineer went straight into the family business at the age of 22. Arnault says he wasn't interested in working for the state. In 1974 he became construction director, in 1977 managing director, and in 1978 he took over full management of the company. He then moved briefly to the USA because of the difficult economic situation in France at the time.
Transformed into margin guarantees
Arnault's brilliance and skill are undeniable. He has achieved the feat of reconciling luxury, actually the epitome of rarity and exclusivity, and volume. He has often demonstrated a good instinct for the right managers. He took risks where others exercised caution, for example when he opened his first boutique in Beijing in the 1990s. And to this day he remains a workhorse with a penchant for obsessing over details. He plays the piano and, according to his own statements, plays tennis four hours a week, occasionally with his friend Roger Federer. He also allows himself a vacation. But Arnault spends most of his life at his desk, in conversations or traveling. He regularly checks on Saturdays at Le Bon Marché. He recently took a long tour to Hong Kong, Beijing, Seoul, Tokyo and finally to the Dior fashion show in Los Angeles.
Arnault has turned many brands into margin guarantors. And so he benefits like no other from the need for distinction of hundreds of millions of people around the world who have recently made money. With the purchase of the travel provider Belmond, LVMH has also expanded into the luxury experiences business. The new five-star hotels from the group's own brands Cheval Blanc and Bulgari Hotels also fall into this category.
The core business, however, remains luxury goods. Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior remain the most important sources of income. LVMH is the most valuable company on the French stock market, even though weakening luxury demand, particularly from China, and Donald Trump's tariffs are weighing on business. The stock market value has halved after the all-time high in spring 2023. At around 225 billion euros, it is still three times the value ten years ago. Eleven billion euros in net profit from 81 billion euros in sales last year are still impressive despite slight declines.
This gives the major shareholder and CEO of LVMH a lot of power, including politically. Arnault is today one of the most influential French business leaders, if not the most influential. Accordingly, it received great attention that he attended a dinner with Marine Le Pen in April together with other company bosses. Is big business paving the way for right-wing populists to power? In Arnault's environment people play it down. One can no longer avoid the favorite for the French presidential elections next year. But Le Pen was by no means convinced of the content.
Is he stuck to his throne?
Arnault's power is also great on the international stage. He is the “outstanding ambassador for luxury and France in the world,” emphasizes a confidant. The LVMH boss is particularly in demand in the customs disputes with the USA, as he is one of the few Europeans that Trump knows and respects. At the beginning of 2025, he, his wife Hélène and two of his children were among the select circle who attended Trump's inauguration. Arnault judges the man in the White House, whom he met on his trip to the USA in the early 1980s, differently than most Europeans. You could very well change Trump's mind in conversation. You just have to remember that he is the most powerful man in the world and a “very intelligent person”. “If you start saying the opposite, the conversation goes wrong from the start,” says Arnault.
Arnault's “shadow diplomacy” of continually influencing Trump personally is welcomed in the Élysée Palace. His word carries weight there. Its great power, not least in the media sector, is also viewed critically by many business representatives: LVMH owns France's leading business newspaper "Les Echos", recently also the leading business magazine "Challenges", "Le Parisien", the leading daily newspaper in the capital, "Paris Match", a leading gossip paper and much more.
Increased dissatisfaction is also coming from people who previously felt understood by Arnault: investors who are gradually wanting a little more clarity about who will be in charge at LVMH in the future. So far, the question of successor is a mystery. Is the luxury king clinging to his throne like so many successful entrepreneurs? With his five children, there are five potential successors. They have all held management positions in the group for years: Delphine (51) and Antoine (49) from their first marriage and Alexandre (34), Frédéric (31) and Jean (27) from their second marriage. If no primus inter pares can be found, an external successor would have to be established.
The ownership issue has been clarified: the family holding company now holds 50.01 percent of the capital shares and 65.94 percent of the voting rights in LVMH. It was converted into a limited partnership on shares in 2022, as many corporate dynasties do to secure long-term power. But Arnault leaves the question of successor unresolved. At the general meeting in April he made it clear that it would only be an issue in seven or eight years. Arnault would then be in his mid-80s. Things won't get any quieter for him by then.
