Bernard Arnault said a wind of optimism is blowing through the US after Donald Trump’s inauguration as president, in contrast to his native France, where the government is seeking to raise corporate taxes and unemployment is increasing.
Bloomberg
“There’s a different mood” between the two countries, the French billionaire told reporters Tuesday on the sidelines of LVMH’s annual results, at one point comparing a return to France to a cold shower.
The 75-year-old luxury mogul could be seen last week standing next to tech billionaires and Argentine President Javier Milei at Trump’s inauguration in Washington. The controlling shareholder of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE attended with his wife Helene and two of his five children, Delphine, 49, and Alexandre, 32.
“Who would refuse an invitation from the US president to attend his inauguration?” Arnault asked, saying he has known every president since Ronald Reagan and has been acquainted with Trump personally for a long time. “Trump was elected with an incredible majority,” he added.
Arnault and Trump have known each other since the French entrepreneur first came to New York in the early 1980s, fleeing a Socialist government in France and seeking to start a real estate business, an endeavor that wasn’t successful.
The ties have endured — Trump last year told Bloomberg Businessweek in an interview that Arnault was an “incredible guy, a friend of mine.” LVMH, meantime, generates a quarter of its revenue from the US, which would likely leave the firm vulnerable to any import tariffs Trump might impose on the European Union.
Arnault declined to say whether he’d spoken about the risk of tariffs with Trump since his election.
Investors are hoping the US will be a bright spot for luxury this year to counterbalance the demand downturn in China.
When Trump won his first presidential election eight years ago, Arnault and Alexandre went to congratulate him at Trump Tower shortly after.
In October 2019, Arnault and Trump inaugurated a Louis Vuitton leather goods plant in Texas as Arnault sought to prove his group was also willing to create production jobs in the US. Alexandre was present too, as was Trump’s daughter Ivanka.
Early in 2023, the younger Arnault and his wife attended a dinner at Mar-a-Lago, with Trump describing the scion as a “young man on the move,” according to a post on his social network Truth Social.
Ivanka has also kept in touch with the younger Arnaults. When Alexandre’s wife Geraldine opened a boutique for her fashion brand last year in New York City, Ivanka attended the event.
The Trumps have favored LVMH fashions at notable events since November, when Melania Trump wore Dior on election day and during the inauguration weekend. Ivanka also wore a Dior outfit and a gown by Givenchy, another LVMH label, during the inauguration celebrations.
Arnault enjoys a prominent role in business and political circles in France. He’s regularly invited to the Elysee Palace when heads of state come to Paris, as happened in May, when China’s Xi Jinping visited. Arnault’s wealth is estimated at $209 billion on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, making him Europe’s wealthiest person.
