Monday, 26 March 2012

Bernard Arnault

Bernard Arnault Biography
Bernard Arnault is the primary shareholder, chairman, and chief executive officer of the Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton company which focuses on producing and marketing a variety of luxury goods including the popular brands Moet champagne, Christian Dior, Dom Perignon, and Louis Vuitton.

Bernard Arnault was born on March 5, 1949 and grew up in Roubaix in the north of France. He attended the Ecole Polytechnique, an engineering school, and helped run his family's construction and property business firm after graduation. The company, named Ferret-Savinel, surged under Arnault's supervision and began building time shares on the French Riviera. After the French Socialist rise to power in 1981, Arnault, along with his wife and children, moved to the United States where he continued his construction business in Palm Beach, Florida.

When the political atmosphere in France changed in 1983, Arnault moved his family back to his native country and took over the struggling textile firm, Boussac which owned the brand Christian Dior. It was the French government who had been looking for someone to acquire the company and Bernard Arnault put up $15 million of his own money with some additional finances to purchase it. His entire reasoning behind the acquisition was to gain control of the Dior label and gain a foothold on the luxury market.

Arnault began building his empire by selling off various divisions of the Boussac company that had nothing to do with his luxury business goals. Much of that money went to purchasing 24% of the controlling shares of the LVMH enterprise. After a bitter battle with the executive staff, Arnault eventually gained control over the company and laid off a number of managing executives in order to rebuild the company to meet his vision.

Bernard Arnault shifted the company's focus away from the traditional trends and onto the new and creative energies that were immerging within France. He wanted to harness the creativity of the fashion world and bring it to the luxury marketplace. Part of this change included hiring a new designer by the name of John Galliano. Arnault's experience with business gave him the strength and knowledge he needed to rebuild the company and his training as a classical pianist gave him an understanding of the creative arts. This combination provided Arnault with a powerful foundation on which to build the future of LVMH.

Arnault continued to acquire brands throughout the 1990s and purchased luxury names such as Givenchy, TAG Heuer, Sephora, and a number of wine and spirit labels. He was criticized for his large luxury conglomerate but many of his competitors found that Arnault was making both business and financial strides with his decisions.

With the changing economies of the 21st century, however, Bernard Arnault found that much of the world was not purchasing the luxury goods they had craved in past years. As a result, many of the brands under the LVMH company struggled to make money and stay afloat. Arnault, however, was not dissuaded and continued to focus on quality and luxury while realizing that some of his brands and stores needed to be downsized. Despite any financial problems, Arnault still managed to keep a tight hold over some of the world's most well-known luxury brands in the industry.
Bernard Arnault
 Bernard Arnault
Bernard Arnault
 Bernard Arnault
Bernard Arnault
 Bernard Arnault
 Bernard Arnault
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Bernard Arnault
        

Superyacht Amadeus Owned by French Industrialist Bernard Arnault.wmv
Bernard Arnault Lagardère

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