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Bernard Arnault, the head of luxury giant LVMH, has strongly criticised the European Union for its slow and shaky start in trade talks with the United States. Speaking at a French parliamentary hearing, Arnault said the EU’s handling of negotiations aimed at reducing US tariffs had begun badly. He warned that delays and weak strategy could hurt major European industries, especially luxury goods. LVMH, the company Arnault leads, owns famous brands such as Louis Vuitton and Hennessy. The United States is LVMH’s biggest market. That’s why Arnault is deeply concerned about the 20% “reciprocal” tariffs introduced by President Donald Trump...

Bernard Arnault, the billionaire boss of the world's biggest luxury conglomerate LVMH, has picked a fight with the French government by suggesting that companies could flee France for the United States to escape a planned tax hike. As the government of Prime Minister Francois Bayrou is struggling to fine-tune a budget designed to tackle the country's deficits and debt mountain, Arnault took issue with an expected key ingredient, a special tax on large companies. "I have just returned from the US, and I have witnessed the wind of optimism in that country. Coming back to France is a bit like...

Finally, the world’s richest person is no longer a middle-aged American tech mogul or a prodigy serial entrepreneur, but a septuagenarian European from the century-old business of selling designer handbags and luxury cognacs. French billionaire Bernard Arnault, the chief executive of fashion conglomerate LVMH, Monday dethroned Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos as the world’s wealthiest person after LVMH stock, traded on Euronext Paris, climbed to an all-time high above $155, pushing Arnault’s net worth to $186.3 billion, according to Forbes. Arnault, 72, has seen his fortune more than double in the past year as LVMH’s global sales boomed despite the COVID-19...

PARIS — A Belgian newspaper says Bernard Arnault, France’s wealthiest businessman and boss of the LVMH luxury house, has applied for Belgian citizenship. La Libre Belgique newspaper reported Saturday that Arnault’s citizenship application was confirmed by the head of Belgium’s naturalization office. French media drew a connection to French President Francois Hollande’s plan to raise the tax rate on France’s highest earners to 75 percent. But tax experts said obtaining Belgian citizenship would not change Arnault’s tax situation, which is determined by residence, not citizenship. Arnault has been critical of the tax plan and many in France’s right-wing UMP opposition...

A Belgian newspaper says Bernard Arnault, France’s wealthiest businessman and boss of the LVMH luxury house, has applied for Belgian citizenship. La Libre Belgique newspaper reported Saturday that Arnault’s citizenship application was confirmed by the head of Belgium’s naturalization office. French media drew a connection to French President Francois Hollande’s plan to raise the tax rate on France’s highest earners to 75 percent. But tax experts said obtaining Belgian citizenship would not change Arnault’s tax situation, which is determined by residence, not citizenship.