About Bernard Arnault

The luxury goods business has always fascinated me.Only a part of this fascination is attributable to the fact that I am something of an aesthete.The  other major part is pure common sense:The fat margins possible in real luxury goods.Though today these businesses might be dominated by financiers , almost all of these started out as ateliers catering to the rich and were set-up by individuals with an understanding of the tastes and inclinations of the rich,some artistic talent,an understanding of skilled craftsmanship,an ability to get things made and some flair to market their wares to their select customers.These days luxury goods companies try to extend their reach by producing mass market luxury targeted at  the aspiring classes.This makes these companies subject to the vagaries of the business cycles.However by producing Veblen goods in limited editions, a small business could not have to bother about business cycles.These very characteristics of the luxury goods business make them suitable for a boot0strapping  entrepreneur.

Bernard Jean Étienne Arnault is today the world’s 4th and Europe’s richest person, with an estimated net worth of US$41 billion.He was Forbes’ “the fashion person of 2011”.Bernard grew up in Roubaix, northern France. After graduating from the École Polytechnique, Bernard worked as an engineer and ran his family’s construction and property business firm, Ferret-Savinel. Read more of this post