Bernard Arnault vs. Franccois Pinault: Battle of the Billionaires

Archrivals François Pinault and Bernard Arnault have competed for dominance on the global luxury-goods stage for decades. After numerous battles, the LVMH and Kering head honchos continue to fight for market share and status. Still, for all their quarreling, France’s richest men have more in common than perhaps they’d like to admit. Then again, that might be part of the problem.

Bernard Arnault Masatoshi Okauchi/Shutterstock	François Pinault Clemens Bilan/Shutterstock
STARTED FROM… The middle. After graduating from a prestigious university, Arnault took the helm of his father’s construction company.	STARTED FROM… The bottom. Born into a peasant family, Pinault dropped out of high school.
AGE 70	AGE 83
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES 156,000	NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES 30,595
LOFTY SUSTAINABILITY GOALS Reduce LVMH’s CO2 emissions by 25 percent by 2020.	LOFTY SUSTAINABILITY GOALS Reduce Kering’s CO2 emissions by 50 percent by 2025.
SUPERPOWER BRAND Louis Vuitton Courtesy of Louis Vuitton	SUPERPOWER BRAND Gucci Courtesy of Gucci
AFTER NOTRE DAME FIRE, IMMEDIATELY PLEDGED $222 million	AFTER NOTRE DAME FIRE, IMMEDIATELY PLEDGED $111 million
CLAIM TO MUSEUM FAME The $166 million La Maison LVMH/Arts-Talents-Patrimoine in Paris, designed by Frank Gehry, will open its doors in 2020. Gehry Partners/Dubuisson Architecture	CLAIM TO MUSEUM FAME The $170 million Bourse de Commerce, slated to open in 2020, will showcase works from Pinault’s personal art collection. Hemis/Alamy
THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY Hermès. LVMH relentlessly tried to take over the family-held brand before giving up the chase in 2014.	THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY Tom Ford. The fashion magnate left his post as creative director of Gucci and Saint Laurent in 2004 after a public conflict with Pinault.
ENVIABLE WINE ESTATE Château d’Yquem, a legendary dessert-wine maison, of which Arnault and LVMH are the majority owners. Shutterstock	ENVIABLE WINE ESTATE Clos de Tart, a Burgundy grand cru property for which he paid more than $230 million. Shutterstock
NET WORTH $103 billion	NET WORTH $31 billion