French businessman Bernard Arnault is the richest man in the world. The boss of the luxury group LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton has, according to Forbes, a fortune of 212,000 million dollars, about 199,000 million euros, comfortably ahead of Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos on the list.
The career of the French businessman is something out of the ordinary. Starting with the family business, focused on construction, he has created a luxury empire that has made it a reference in the French and global economy.
What are your tips? How did she get there? The book Entrepreneurship like Bernard Arnault by Maxime Dubourg collects some great keys that he has released in letters to shareholders, in public or in interviews.
The long term is a constant at Bernard Arnault. Several of the group's brands are already centenary... and will surely still be around 100 years from now. The group's management structure and its horizon of action are also organized for the long term.
How much exactly? Arnault's long term is not 5 or 10 years, which is what companies usually handle. LVMH works with a horizon of more than 20 years, and it would probably be a century if it depended on it.
For Arnault, it is essential to have a global vision of his company and a global vision of his work. Things are not done just because, by chance. You have to give a direction and values to the company, which translates into great benefits.
This starts by giving a specific direction to the teams so that they know the final objective. Thus, the entire company is involved in a mission. And it makes the decisions more obvious: either they contribute to the vision of the company and are validated, or they are not at the center of the strategy, and must be discarded.
One of LVMH's strengths is its global presence. Arnault has always had it in his veins. We must try to reach the largest number of countries in the shortest possible time, he has raised on some occasion. Key at a time of increasing digitization, which brings the world closer than ever.
Consumer habits change, like geographies and fashions. All products, both for companies and for end consumers, can see how consumer habits change. They are cycles. The key to a successful entrepreneur is knowing how to adapt. Adapt your products or adapt your sales territories.
As an example, what Bernard Arnault imposed with the Hennessy beverage brand during a cognac consumption crisis in Japan. Cognac, initially a highly appreciated product by the Japanese, was gradually pushed aside by consumers. The group had to carry out a strategic replacement and opted for China.
Arnault has repeated many times that you never have to be satisfied, that you have to be permanently alert, doubt and question yourself.
Whoever congratulates himself on his results, who is confident and satisfied, puts himself in a situation of weakness and is not sufficiently attentive to the competition, to the evolution of consumers, to world events. The sentinel never falls asleep, and this affects all functions of the company, not just its managers.
Behind his spirit of adventure and business conquest, Arnault confesses to being prudent. Like Warren Buffett, he believes that the first rule is never to lose money. Buying a business is committing to take over from an outsider, an entity that has been run by others, that cannot be fully turned around without understanding. In business, a purchase is always risky, even if the opportunity is attractive.
LVMH has shown its ability to survive crises, even though demand for luxury may suffer. Arnault, as a wise builder, knows that crises are an opportunity to buy businesses at a lower cost. Companies in crisis, weakened by the crisis, which must be maintained, restructured and then reactivated during the economic recovery.
The renegotiation of the purchase of Tiffany in 2020 is an example. The pandemic caused the results of Tiffany to fall sharply, which was paying dividends despite this, and Arnault wanted to renegotiate the purchase price. This gave rise to controversy, but the acquisition was closed at a lower purchase price than the initial one, with around €400 million less.
Arnault is very demanding, and he never misses an opportunity to be, or to let it be known. Even with himself. The demand and the errors are not incompatible. In the end we are all human. But what he counts is learning to keep going when he stumbles.
You have to constantly look for the best. Arnault wants to do better and better, to protect himself from risks. You always have to fight complacency, but it's easy to accommodate. Results in strong growth, products that sweep... There is a risk of complacency. Arnault rightly believes that when everything is going well, it is precisely when you have to be more attentive.
