What is François-Henri Pinault's Net Worth?
François-Henri Pinault is a French businessman who has a net worth of $7 billion. He is the current CEO of Kering, a position that he has held since 2005. François-Henri is the son of François Pinault, the man who originally started PPR. PPR was then turned into the luxury fashion group Kering, which François-Henri now leads. Kering owns brands like Balenciaga, Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, and many others. Outside of his role as CEO of Kering, the younger Pinault also serves as the president of Groupe Artemis, a holding company with a portfolio in fashion, wine, luxury, art, tourism, and much more. In addition, Pinault is known for his marriage to Salma Hayek, whom he famously married in 2009.
Early Life
François-Henry Pinault was born on May 28th, 1962, in Rennes, France. One year after he was born, François-Henry's father started a timber company with a bank loan. The company grew steadily, eventually becoming Pinault S.A., and was listed on the Paris Stock Exchange when François-Henry was 16 years old. In the 90s, the company began to focus more on retail and acquired some of the biggest brands in the fashion world, eventually becoming PPR and then Kering. During this period, the senior Pinault also created the Artemis Group.
While all of this was happening, François-Henri attended the HEC School of Management, eventually graduating in 1985. During his college years, Pinault founded a CRM company called Soft Computing. He also interned at Hewlett-Packard in Paris and worked as a software developer. When he graduated from university, François completed his compulsory military service at the French Consulate in Los Angeles and studied fashion and technology sectors in the United States.
Career
By the time he was ready to enter the workforce, a place was ready for the younger Pinault at PPR. He was quickly promoted to manager of the buying department, and this led to further promotions over the years. By 1990, he was head manager of Pinault Distribution. During the mid-to-late 90s, Pinault served as CEO for companies like CFAO and Fnac. In 2003, his father gave him the presidency of Groupe Artemis.
This led to an even greater step forward when François-Henri was named CEO and President of PPR. As the new leader of the company, Pinault oversaw its shift towards an international fashion titan and renamed it Kering. The company then acquired brands like Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Boucheron, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, Brioni, Girard-Perregaux, JeanRichard, Qeelin, Pomellato, Dodo, and Ulysse Nardin.
During this period, Pinault also focused more on sustainability and launched a women's rights organization. PPR's sales dropped by more than 50% while its profits grew by 40% at the same time. In 2018, revenues grew by 27% to 15.5 billion euros. By 2018, Pinault oversaw the complete abandonment of all business ventures unrelated to luxury, selling off companies like Puma and Volcom.
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Kering employed somewhat unexpected strategies under Pinault's leadership. He appointed an accessories designer as the new creative director for Gucci, a move that saw the classic designer triple its sales over the next five years. He then appointed Georgian-born designer Demna Gvasalia as the new creative director of Balenciaga in an equally unexpected move.
Kering has been quite active in the eyewear industry under François-Henry's leadership as well. In 2014, the company launched Kering Eyewear. In 2017, this company partnered with Richemont to produce eyewear for Cartier, Alaia, and Montblanc. This ultimately led to the creation of a 15,000-square-metre logistics center in Italy with the capability of creating 5 million sunglasses per year. In 2021, Kering acquired a 100% stake in the Danish luxury eyewear brand Lindberg.
Relationships
Pinault's first marriage was to Dorothee Lepere, whom he married in 1996. The marriage ended in divorce in 2004, and the couple had two children together during their relationship. François then dated supermodel Linda Evangelista, with whom he had another child in 2006. After this relationship then ended Pinault started dating actress Salma Hayek. These two eventually welcomed a child into the world in 2007 and married in 2009.
Kering Earnings
Kering made nearly 10 billion Euros in 2012 and recorded a profit of 1 billion euros. In 2020, Kering reported revenues of $13.1 billion, representing a decline of almost 18% from the previous year.
Real Estate
In 2020, it was reported that Pinault and Hayek had moved out of their estate in Bel-Air. This was apparently because the home was scheduled to be demolished according to plans submitted to the local authorities. As the story goes, they felt as though the existing 8,000-square-foot property was too small, so the couple submitted plans to demolish the building and replace it with an all-new, 17,500-square-foot residence. One can only assume that the plans were approved, causing the couple to move out in preparation for the planned demolition.
Salma and François first acquired this property in 2007, paying $13.5 million to the previous owners, Kelsey and Camille Grammer. The residence sits on just under an acre of land.
Pinault apparently has a stunning number of homes scattered around the globe, which you would expect for a billionaire. These homes are reportedly located in London, Paris, and across the French countryside. And, of course, Hayek also owns her own properties in the United States, which adds to the couple's real estate portfolio.
