Chairman of Louis Vuitton S.A.

Bernard Arnault, born on the 5th of March 1949 in Roubaix, is said to be the wealthiest man in France. Currently living in his home country as well as in New Rochelle, New York, USA, he is famous for owning luxury goods brands, acting as chairman of Christian Dior SA, Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, and Groupe Arnault.

Prior to heading such prestigious companies, he was at the engineering school, École Polytechnique, and later helped his family’s property and construction business firm called Ferret-Savinel. The company, which flourished under his supervision, began to build time shares on the French Riviera.

In 1981, Arnault, together with his wife and kids, left the country for the United States, continuing the construction business in Florida’s Palm Beach. Two years later, he and his family moved back to France. There he supervised the textile firm, Boussac, a company that owned the label Christian Dior. He sold off divisions of the company, as started building his business empire. Arnault used most of the earnings to purchase 24% of the controlling shares of the LVMH enterprise.

Finally gaining control over the company, Arnault began acquiring various brands all through the 90s; the entrepreneur even bought major names like TAG Heuer, Givenchy, Sephora, and various spirit and wine labels.

At present, despite not attaining the number of acquisitions as before, Bernard Arnault focuses on the quality and luxury of his purchased companies and finding ways to improve them.