Bernard Jean

Bernard Jean

 Etienne Arnault was born March 5, 1949, in Roubaix. His father Jean Leon Arnault was a manufacturer, owner of a civil engineering company, Ferret-Savinel. After graduating from the Maxence Van Der Meersch High School in Roubaix, Bernard Arnault was admitted to the Ecole Polytechnique (X1969) from which he graduated with an engineering degree in 1971.

After graduation, in 1971, he joined his father's company. In 1976, he convinced his father to liquidate the construction division of the company for 40 million French francs, and to change the focus of the company to real estate. Using the name Férinel, the new company developed a specialty holiday accommodation. Named director of company building in 1974, he became CEO in 1977. In 1979, he succeeded his father as president of the company. When Socialist François Mitterrand was elected President of France in 1981, Bernard Arnault emigrated to the United States and created Ferinel Inc. Through this vehicle, Bernard Arnault undertook construction activity in the United States, developing an apartment complex in limited partnership form in West Palm Beach, Florida, which defaulted on its mortgage shortly after its completion. The equity investors lost their entire investment and bondholders who had financed the project lost most of their money as well. He was not particularly successful in the United States.

                                                Christian Dior

Three years later, when the French Socialists switched to a more conservative economic course, Bernard Arnault returned to France and became the CEO of Financière Agache, a luxury goods company. With the help of Antoine Bernheim, a senior partner of Lazard Frères et Cie., the Paris office of Lazard Frères & Co., and government subsidies conferred in exchange for a promise not to downsize, Bernard Arnault acquired Boussac, a textile company in turmoil. The Arnault family put up just $15 million of their own money, with Lazard supplying the rest of the reported $80 million purchase price. Bernard Arnault sold nearly all the company's assets, keeping only the prestigious Christian Dior brand, and Le Bon Marché department store.

                                                        LVMH

In 1987, shortly after the creation of LVMH, the new luxury group resulting from the merger between two companies, Mr Arnault exploited a growing conflict between Alain Chevalier, Moët Hennessy's CEO, and Henri Racamier, president of Louis Vuitton. The new group held property rights to Dior perfumes, which Bernard Arnault craved to incorporate into Dior Couture. He created a holding company of which he owned 60% and Guinness, who had a distribution agreement with Moët-Hennessy, owned 40%. Following the October 1987 stock market crash, he capitalized on the lower quoted price and soon owned 43% of LVMH. He then consolidated his position by purging executives from both companies including appointing his father Jean Leon Arnault Chairman of the Supervisory board before officially taking over as Chairman & CEO in 1989.

In 2007, he acquired 10.69% of France's largest supermarket retailer and the world's second largest food distributor, Carrefour through his Blue Capital, which is jointly owned by California property firm Colony Capital.

He has since then led the company through an ambitious development plan, turning it into one of the largest luxury groups in the world, alongside Swiss luxury giant Richemont and French based PPR Group.

Among other companies, Arnault also owned the art auction house Phillips de Pury & Company from 1999 to 2003.

Arnault's main business competitors are:

French businessman François-Henri Pinault, whose holding company PPR owns Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Stella McCartney, Sergio Rossi, Bottega Veneta, Boucheron, Roger & Gallet, Bédat & Co and Christie's.

Swiss-based Richemont, which owns Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Piaget, Baume et Mercier, IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, A. Lange & S?hne, Officine Panerai, Vacheron Constantin, Dunhill, Lancel, Montblanc, Old England, Purdey, Chloé, and Shanghai Tang.

After many years of working and investments in all the world ,He become One of the most important businessmen and rich people in the world. And his net worth is $41 billion . Bernard Arnault was awarded the French Legion of Honour.

  a smart man and no one could stop him ,and i learned from him some thing very important for me that i never give up, and face all the challenges .