Bernard Arnault, France's richest man and head of luxury goods giant LVMH, has applied for Belgian nationality but denies the decision is a bid to evade a 75-percent wealth tax.
The boss of a company whose brands include Champagne houses Moët and Chandon and Veuve Clicquot, Château d’Yquem and Hennessy Cognac, Arnault says he will continue to pay tax in France despite his attempt to become a Belgian national. "I am and will remain a tax resident in France and in this regard I will, like all French people, fulfil my fiscal obligations," he said on Sunday, after talks with Jean-Marc Ayrault, the French prime minister last week.
"Our country must count on everyone to do their bit to face a deep economic crisis amid strict budgetary constraints," Arnault said, adding that his bid for dual nationality was "linked to personal reasons" and began several months ago.
Arnault's application comes amid a debate on one of the main pledges made by French president Francois Hollande, a Socialist, during the election campaign earlier this year. He promised to impose a 75-percent tax on incomes above one million euros ($1.28 million).
In a televised interview on Sunday evening, Hollande commented that Arnault "must weigh up what it means to seek another nationality because we are proud to be French," adding there would be no exceptions to the 75-percent tax.
Arnault is estimated to be worth $41 billion.
Born in 1949, he initially graduated with a degree in engineering before joining his father’s civil engineering company.
Following the election of President Francois Mitterrand in 1981, Arnault lived in the United States for three years, returning to France to run a luxury goods company after the Socialists switched to a more conservative economic course. He later went on to acquire Boussac, a textile company in financial difficulty, which owned fashion house Christian Dior. He sold off most of the company’s assets, retaining Dior, before setting his sights on LVMH in the late 1980’s.
Since then, LVMH has grown to include around 60 brands, from fashion and perfume to Champagne and spirits. It employs nearly 100,000 people around the world, with sales in excess of 23 billion euros ($29.41 billion) last year.
A highly skilled pianist, Arnault is a big supporter of the arts, forming the Louis Vuitton Foundation for Creation in Paris. He is also funding a $200-million art museum in the city, which is due to open later this year.
