The incredible success story of French billionaire François-Henri Pinault, the "prince of luxury" who became the head of the company his father founded in 1963: Who is François-Henri Pinault?
Founding father: François Pinault (born 21 August 1936) is a French billionaire businessman, founder of the luxury group Kering and the investment holding company Artémis. Pinault started his business in the timber industry in the early 1960s. Taken public in 1988, his company invested in specialty store chains and changed its name to Pinault-Printemps-Redoute (PPR). By the end of 1999, PPR shifted towards luxury and fashion. In 2003, he passed on the management of his companies to his elder son François-Henri to follow his passion for contemporary art.
Son: François-Henri Pinault (born 28 May 1962) is a French businessman, the chairman, and CEO of Kering since 2005, and president of Groupe Artémis since 2003. Under his leadership, the retail conglomerate PPR was transformed into the luxury fashion group Kering. Pinault is the son of François Pinault, the founder of PPR. He has been married to Salma Hayek since 2009, and they have a daughter together.
François Pinault, who dropped out of HIGH SCHOOL and started trading in the timber business, left the management of his company Artemis, which he managed for 40 years, to his son, 47-year-old François-Henri Pinault, in 2003. Pinault, whose personal assets exceeded $6 billion, managed the multi-billion-dollar Pinault-Printemps-Redoute (PPR) group of companies in industries ranging from fashion to finance, such as Christie's Auction house, a vineyard in Bordeaux, Gucci, Puma, FNAC.
Son Pinault faced two issues that needed to prove himself in 2005: the group's performance in the face of the economic crisis and Pinault's ability to run the companies he inherited from his father. However, both issues ended in Pinault's favor. The PPR group, which has companies in different sectors as well as luxury brands, performed above expectations during the crisis. Despite the fact that luxury expenditures were the first to be abandoned in the economic crisis, the wise policies carried out allowed the company to shrink by 4.8 percent in profit and 3.6 percent in revenue. Pinault, who took the helm of the company in 2003 and became CEO of the corporate group PPR in 2005, successfully passed the first big test.
In a time when luxury expenditures fell between 15-20 percent and luxury brands such as Christian Lacroix and Escada were on the verge of bankruptcy, Pinault saw the coming of the crisis in 2007, applied a "wartime budget" and managed to get the company on the straight. With François-Henri Pinault, the group also expanded into new sectors. Trying to prove himself by working in different departments of companies for 13 years, Pinault took the first big strategic step by opening the book and electronics store and website (a kind of Amazon) FNAC in the early 90s.
Think like a strategist, act like an animal
Some of the GROUP brands are: Gucci Group, Puma, Redcats, FNAC, Conforama, CFAO, Yves Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, Boucheron.
"Think like a strategist, act like an animal" is the professional principle of François Pinault, the father of 72, the founder of companies. Artemis, the name of the family holding, is also known as the goddess of hunting.
Couldn't get a Green Card in the US Returned to France
Having completed his education in France, Pinault later went to the USA to study business administration. After failing to get a green card, he returned to France. After driving an Aston Martin car for a long time, Pinault, who also likes luxury himself, replaced it with the Lexus Hybrid. In addition, Pinault has a collection of more than 60 expensive watches.
Unlike other groups, the PINAULT family does not establish emotional bonds with companies. The sale of the Printemps chain of stores, which gave the group its name, is an indication of this. Another radical decision of the group, which sold Printemps and increased its assets by $ 1 billion, was to buy Puma for $ 4.7 billion.
He had two children with his first wife, Dorothee Lepere, and one child with his second wife, model Linda Evangelista. Finally, he married Salma Hayek in 2006.