Who Bernard Arnault is, how he built LVMH, and the deals and battles that made him the most powerful man in luxury.
By Shreya S · Last reviewed 1 November 2026
On this page: The man · The deals · What next
The man
Who is Bernard Arnault?
A French businessman, born in Roubaix in 1949, who is chairman and chief executive of LVMH, the world’s largest luxury group. He trained as an engineer at the École Polytechnique and started in his family’s construction business. He has repeatedly been ranked the richest person in the world.
How did Arnault get into luxury?
In 1984 he bought Boussac, a bankrupt textile group whose assets included Christian Dior and the Paris department store Le Bon Marché. He kept Dior, sold much of the rest, and used it as the base from which he took control of LVMH in 1989.
What is Arnault’s strategy?
Buy houses with deep heritage, put star designers in charge, control distribution through owned stores, and invest for the long term. He also pioneered the use of art and culture to build prestige, opening the Fondation Louis Vuitton, designed by Frank Gehry, in Paris in 2014.
The deals
What were Arnault’s biggest deals and battles?
- LVMH (1989): he won control of the newly merged group after a boardroom fight
- Gucci (1999): he lost a bitter takeover battle to François Pinault, whose group became Kering
- Hermès (2010–2014): LVMH quietly built a large stake in Hermès; the family fought back, and in 2014 LVMH agreed to hand out its shares
- Bulgari (2011) and Tiffany & Co. (2021): major jewellery purchases
- Christian Dior (2017): the family brought the whole Dior fashion business into LVMH
Which designers did Arnault hire?
Many of the defining appointments of the last 30 years: John Galliano and Alexander McQueen at Givenchy, Galliano at Dior, Marc Jacobs at Louis Vuitton, Phoebe Philo at Celine, Jonathan Anderson at Loewe and later Dior, and Pharrell Williams at Louis Vuitton menswear.
Read on Ayerhs: John Galliano – The complete guide · How houses choose a new designer
What next
Do Arnault’s children work at LVMH?
Yes, all five: Delphine, chief executive of Dior; Antoine; Alexandre; Frédéric; and Jean. No successor has been named, and LVMH raised its age limit for the chief executive to 85 in 2025.
Read on Ayerhs: What is LVMH? · The Rise of Fashion Conglomerates
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