I always want to win

WHILE HIS COMPETITORS HAVE THEIR TAILS BETWEEN THEIR LEGS, BERNARD ARNAULT IS LEADING HIS LUXURY CONGLOMERATE LVMH THROUGH AN AUDACIOUS EXPANSION.

- JACOB GOLDBERG

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, all eyes have been on Bernard Arnault, Europe’s wealthiest man. For brief moments over the preceding months, the luxury-goods magnate topped Jeff Bezos as the richest man in the world with an estimated net worth of more than US$100 billion (A$144 billion). However, by May, that figure plummeted by US$30 billion (A$43 billion) after shares in his company, LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton SE, plunged by 19 per cent, largely because people are no longer shopping for Fendi handbags or Bulgari watches amid a global economic downturn. Business publications quipped that Arnault has lost as much money as Bezos has gained since the start of the crisis.

Strikingly, however, no analysis of the straits Arnault finds himself in contains any trace of pity or schadenfreude. Why? Because it is well understood that nothing, not even a global pandemic or an economic recession, can stop him from expanding, influencing and creating.

Arnault, 71, oversees a luxury empire of 70-plus brands divided into six sectors, offering the world’s most coveted wines, perfumes, and leather goods. He is often referred to as ‘the wolf in cashmere’ because of his ruthless drive for growth and seemingly wanton embrace of big risks. When LVMH’s competitors exercise caution, Arnault pushes his organisation into the future with massive, audacious investments.

For example, even today, he is orchestrating an aggressive expansion plan that will see the reopening of the Samaritaine department store in Paris as a duty-free shopping hub and luxury hotel, as well as the construction of a Cheval Blanc luxury hotel on Los Angeles’ Rodeo Drive. He has also committed to completing LVMH’s US$16 billion (A$23 billion) takeover of Tiffany & Co. this year.