Bernard Arnault

Bernard Jean Etienne Arnault (born 1949) is a French businessman and the chairman and chief executive officer of LVMH, the world's largest luxury goods company. Born in Roubaix and raised in a devoutly Catholic household, he studied civil engineering and mathematics at the Ecole Polytechnique, graduating in 1971, and began his career in his father's company, Ferret-Savinel, shifting its focus to real estate. In 1984 he acquired the financially struggling textile and retail conglomerate Boussac Saint-Freres, which included the fashion house Christian Dior, and in 1987 he played a key role in the creation of LVMH by merging Louis Vuitton with Moet Hennessy. Through a series of acquisitions he built LVMH into a leading luxury company across fashion, jewelry, watches and wine. After the 2019 Notre-Dame fire he donated 200 million euros to the rebuilding effort.