Bernard Arnault

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Bernard Arnault

Arnault in 2017

Born Bernard Jean Étienne Arnault

5 March 1949 (age 71)

Roubaix, France

Nationality French

Alma mater École Polytechnique, Palaiseau

Occupation Businessman, media proprietor, art collector

Net worth US$110.9 billion (June 2020)[1]

Title Chairman and CEO, LVMH

 Chairman, Christian Dior SE

Anne Dewavrin
Spouse(s) (m. 1973; div. 1990)

Hélène Mercier (m. 1991)

Children 5

Bernard Jean Étienne Arnault (French: [bɛʁnaʁ ʒɑ̃ etjɛn aʁno]; born 5 March 1949) is a
French billionaire businessman and art collector.[2][3] He is the chairman and chief
executive of LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton SE, LVMH, the world's largest
luxury-goods company. In April 2018, he became the richest person in fashion,
topping Zara's Amancio Ortega.[4] Arnault surpassed Jeff Bezos to become the richest
man in the world in December of 2019. [5] He briefly became the world's richest man for a
second time in January 2020.[6]

Contents

 1Early life
 2Career
o 2.1Christian Dior
o 2.2LVMH
o 2.31MDB
o 2.4Other investments
o 2.5Charity
 3Art collector
 4Awards
 5Personal life
 6Request for Belgian nationality
 7See also
 8References
 9External links

Early life[edit]
Bernard Jean Étienne Arnault was born on 5 March 1949, in Roubaix, France.[7][8] His
father, manufacturer Jean Léon Arnault, was a graduate of École Centrale Paris.[8] His
mother, Marie-Josèphe Savinel, had a "fascination for Dior", and was the daughter of
Étienne Savinel, who entrusted her husband with the management of his civil
engineering company Ferret-Savinel in 1950, and later its ownership. [8] Ferret-Savinel
later became Ferinel, and then the George V Group, before selling its real estate assets
to Compagnie Générale des Eaux (CGE), and the real estate business eventually
became Nexity.
Arnault was educated at the Lycée Maxence Van Der Meersch in Roubaix, and
the Lycée Faidherbe in Lille.[9][10] In 1971, he graduated from the École Polytechnique,
France's leading engineering school, and began work for his father's company. [8]