Reference News Network reported on July 9 that the website of the American "Bloomberg Businessweek" recently published an article entitled "The Arnault Family", the full text of which is excerpted as follows:
Every Saturday morning, Bernard Arnault spends a few hours inspecting his sanctuary of handbags, haute couture, jewellery and sky-high watches.
The 75-year-old chairman and CEO of LVMH did not come to shop. Arnault's decades of sitting in the front row of the show allowed him to spot any incongruities that threatened to spoil the opulence he had carefully crafted.
Its industries are "everywhere"
Over the past 40 years, Arnault has formed the world's largest luxury conglomerate, globalizing a luxury company once constrained by the ambition and confines of traditional European family businesses. Arnault designs costumes for royalty, presidents, supermodels and celebrities.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Arnault's net worth was about $200 billion as of mid-June. His wealth is based on very similar industries, and only a few giants in the digital industry can match his wealth – they have expanded their wealth by moving into areas such as software, cloud computing and electric vehicles.
This July, the world's attention will be focused on the Summer Olympics in Paris. After writing a cheque for 150 million euros (about $160 million), Louis Vuitton became one of the top sponsors of the Olympic Games. Visitors to Paris will find Arnault and his 75 luxury stores seemingly everywhere, covering everything from fashion, jewelry, handbags, champagne, spirits and high-end hotels. Louis Vuitton's billboards, shops and Arnault-sponsored museums can be found throughout the French capital, including the Fondation Louis Vuitton, designed by Frank Gerry and located on the western edge of the city. Notre-Dame Cathedral, which suffered a fire in 2019, is expected to reopen later this year, thanks in large part to a €200 million donation from Arnault and LVMH.
"The Wolf in Cashmere"
In the world of luxury and fashion, Arnault has a reputation for domineering. He was an aggressive warrior-capitalist who fired thousands of workers after completing a takeover, attempting to swallow up rivals Gucci and Hermès through a hostile takeover, but failed. In the gentlemanly European business world, this is considered to be too American. Many people remember that a member of the Hermès family used to call him "the wolf in cashmere".
Arnault starts work at 8 a.m. and finishes at 8:30 p.m. every day. This timeline is not because he is ambitious after decades in the luxury industry, but because he says, "I am happy every morning when I start work".
Many of his long-time employees, former employees, and outsiders seem to be in awe of him. It was commented that when Arno entered the room, the temperature dropped by about 8 degrees. Another said he hates complacency so much that the worst way to start a meeting is to tell him that sales are strong.
To explain his seriousness, colleagues pointed out that Arnault grew up in Roubaix, the northern provincial capital. Locals are notoriously hard-working and silent.
Arnault trained in classical piano, but he didn't think he was good enough to make a career out of it. He earned an engineering degree from École Polytechnique before joining the family business and convincing his father to focus on real estate. At first, the company developed vacation homes in the south of France and apartments in Florida. But he believes that a chance conversation in the United States sparked his curiosity about France's historic luxury brands. In the early '70s, Arnault asked a New York taxi driver if he knew who the French president was, and the driver said he only knew one French name: Christian Dior.
By 1984, the consumer goods and manufacturing group that owned Dior went bankrupt. With the support of the investment bank Lazard Brothers, Arnault persuaded the French government to sell the group to him, and then he cut almost all the departments, leaving only Dior and Le Bon Marché on the Left Bank of Paris, firing thousands of workers. France was unprepared for this naked American-style capitalism, and the French press called him the "Terminator". But Dior had only three stores at the time, with sales equivalent to 90 million euros today; Last year, Dior had 439 stores and sales reached 9.5 billion euros.
A few years after the acquisition of Dior, Arnault is once again judging the situation, with factions within the Louis Vuitton group, which produces suitcases and spirits, vying for control. Taking advantage of the cash from the Dior business and the renewed support of the Lazard brothers, as well as the support of another French bank, Arnault acquired a decisive stake. He then ousted his ally in the fight, Louis Vuitton president Henri Lacamier, and eventually managed to get himself elected chairman and CEO. This business war shocked the luxury industry, and they had never seen anything like it.
Use the Olympics to improve your image
Arnault believed that luxury brands could be bigger than anyone could have imagined at the time. He also understands that the business is not just about physical goods, but also about names and trademarks with a sense of history, as well as an implicit promise that buyers will have access to a high-class club.
One danger facing Arnault's empire was the widespread exclusion of luxury – a moral distancing from ostentatious handbags, designer clothing, and a hundred thousand dollar watches. On the afternoon after an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek, Arnault flew to Barcelona with his son, Frederick, to visit his store there and meet some celebrities in one of the city's famous parks. A few blocks away, angry residents gathered to protest the company's use of the park, holding signs with slogans such as "Your luxury is our pain," and scuffles ensued. Police said seven officers were injured.
Avoiding this condemnation and cultivating goodwill is one of the reasons Arnault sponsors the Olympics. This is not altruism. The LVMH group is the most visible company in France. Arnault said that whenever he went abroad, he felt like an ambassador. LVMH Maisons were responsible for the design of the Olympic medals, the costumes for the French athletes at the Opening Ceremony and the Moët & Chandon champagne at the Victory Celebrations.
His eldest son, Antoine, said his father was reluctant to write the check at first, only to realize that LVMH, as the standard-bearer of French culture around the world, had a responsibility to make the Games a success. Now, Arnault is asking his children which events he should attend. He also seems to be comparing his stamina to that of world-class athletes. "Managing a start-up or a bigger company is not much different from the life of a highest-level athlete," he said. ”
Arnault said he has no plans to retire and plans to visit the store every Saturday whenever possible.
Speculation about the successor is likely to continue for some time. Arnault himself mentioned that he recently raised the retirement age for LVMH CEO from 75 to 80. Later, he received a letter from Warren Buffett, who was in his 90s, saying that it was a mistake to set the new age limit so low.
Arnault's recent nomination of Frederick as second-in-command of a holding company has been interpreted by some observers as an endorsement of the son's prospects. Arnault's daughter, Delphina, is the only other member of the LVMH executive committee, suggesting that Arnault is still evaluating the competence of his other children.