Our most recent post on M. Arnault was April 26's "Bernard Arnault, Chairman and CEO of Louis Vuitton is currently the world’s richest man, worth around $239 billion...."
From Benzinga via Yahoo Finance, February 27:
While he’s not as popular as Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk in the U.S., Bernard Arnault doesn’t need to be — he’s the richest person in the world and may have the most unique story amongst his billionaire peers.
Arnault, 73, born in France, may be most well-known today for his founding and current leadership of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the world's largest luxury goods company, but how he got there involved one French Franc ($0.16 USD), real estate in the French Riviera, and condominiums in Palm Beach, Florida.
Estimated to have a net worth of $201.8 billion, making him the richest person in the world ahead of Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, Arnault graduated from the École Polytechnique in Paris with a degree in engineering before beginning a career at his father’s construction firm Ferret-Savinel.
Around five years into being at his father’s firm, he convinced the company and his father to liquidate the construction division and enter the real estate market — Arnault earned $15 million in the sale.
Under the name Férinel, the family company initially developed specialty holiday accommodations. Named a company director in 1974, and named CEO in 1977, Arnault started building timeshares on the Mediterranean coast of southeastern France.
Shortly after in the 1980s, Arnault moved to the U.S. and started developing condos in Palm Beach, while simultaneously building a U.S. branch of his family’s property business amid socialist power in France.
The French Socialists switched to a more conservative economic course in 1983, prompting Arnault to return to his native France — this is where the one French Franc comes in....
....MUCH MORE
Some of our prior posts on his and his company's approach to the world:
- Having Got the ECB to Buy LVMH Bonds To Finance Tiffany Purchase, Europe’s Richest Man Eyeing London’s Ritz Hotel
- LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault Becomes The Richest Man In World
- Why Is The Richest Man In France Messing Around With SPACs?
- The world's second-richest man, LVMH's Bernard Arnault, sold his private jet after people started tracking it on Twitter: 'No one can see where I go'
So what's the big deal? Louis Vuitton has wallets. Here's one that looks like their original steamer trunks:
$6,050.00
Oh wait.
From Reuters:
Tech group Ledger completes new fundraising, valuing it at over $1.5 billion
French technology and digital company Ledger said on Thursday it completed a new $380 million fundraising round that gave it a valuation of more than $1.5 billion.
Ledger, headquartered in Paris, runs a platform called Ledger-Live which deals with cryptocurrencies.
Its latest Series C fundraising round was led by 10T Holdings, while other investors involved included Financiere Agache, a unit of Bernard Arnault, the French luxury goods billionaire who runs LVMH....
....MORE
Background at Coindesk, December 1, 2020:
Crypto Wallet Maker Ledger Hires Luxury Brand Exec to Grow Consumer Business
Or pop for one of the 1930's Louis Vuitton steamer trunks on offer at Etsy:
$35,560.07 (free shipping)
Father's Day is coming up. Just sayin'
