Bernard Arnault
– Founder and CEO of LVMH
France’s richest man is the founder of the LVMH group
“The Arnault family is worth $41 million, the 14th richest person in the world”
His business empire has more than 70 brands. It includes famous names like Louis Vuitton, Bulgari, and TAG Heuer. His company LVMH has 3700 retail stores worldwide. Each of these companies doing business under this banner has sales of luxury products in excess of $34 billion. Arnault has been its CEO since 1989. He has become the 14th richest person in the world through each brand. The Arnault family’s net worth is over $41 billion. He is the richest person in France. Says my job is to increase desire and demand through innovation, quality and craftsmanship. A large part of his wealth comes from Chrystia Dior.
“Took a degree in civil engineering but sold father’s engineering firm”
Arnault’s journey began in 1984. He inherited the qualities of business. His father Jena Arnault was also a businessman and ran a civil engineering company. Following in his footsteps, Barnard earned a degree in civil engineering in 1971. It was hoped that he would take over his father’s business and promote it. He made many changes in his father’s company. Also convinced him that the company should be sold and full attention should be given to real estate. By 1979, the business was in his hands. There is a story behind their interest in luxury clothing companies. He went to America for the first time when he was 21 years old. JFK took a taxi from the airport. The driver asked if you were French. Have you been to France? Do you know the president there? No answer received. But I know about Christian Dior. There it came to mind how big and wide impact a fashion luxury brand can have and yes good business. After that he started acquiring textile companies and fashion brands and within his scope comes the Christian Dior brand. The next in the line was named Louis Vuitton. He did many experiments against marketing. It showed courage to open the first store outside the country in China, although there were many questions about the paying capacity of the people there.
“When I went to America for the first time at the age of 21, I realized how famous the French brand is”
After that the brand spread all over the world. He says that when Louis Vuitton was acquired, people said it was already a big brand. There is still a lot left to do but since then this company has become more than 10 times bigger. Arnault makes his business decisions based on both intuition and hard facts. It is said that if we decide only from the mind, this can be fatal and if we focus only on facts, this will not work either. He does not trust people much. He says that when I was young, the experience of trusting some people was not good. Since then I have been careful. In 2000 he invested in some internet companies but he considers them as his failures. After that he said that I failed but I have no regrets. I prefer to look to the future. Signed up with celebrities like Jennifer Lopez, Scarlett Johnson, Madonna for brand promotion. Its sole purpose is to promote the brand. He says that when you succeed, you tell everyone how great you have done. But when you make any wrong decision, you will know that the same people will also appear to make fun of you.
