French billionaire, Francois-Henri Pinault is known as the chairman and CEO of Kering – a luxury brand. He also serves as the President of Groupe Artemis. And in pop culture, he is better known as Salma Hayek’s husband and Linda Evangelista’s baby daddy.
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Honestly, it doesn’t matter how you know him – but the fortune attached to his name does matter. Let’s take a quick roundup of this 5 ft 7 inches long filthy rich personality:
Let’s start this list of 7 interesting facts with it fact: He has earned massive success in the business community, which has earned him praises from all around the world. Throughout his career, he has managed to earn a significant number of awards and accolades. He received a Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur in 2006, and a place in the Vanity Fair Hall of Fame in 2016.
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In addition, he also received the title of Fortune’s Businessperson of the Year in 2018, a GCC Global Leaders of Change Award in 2015, and an ADL (Anti-Defamation League) International Leadership Award in 2015 as he set an example in raising awareness regarding discrimination against women and minorities at the workplace. In 2018, he was also named at number four by the Harvard Business Review for being the Best Performing CEO in the World.
In 2006, Pinault started dating actress Salma Hayek and, by March of the next year, rumors starting speculating that she was expecting her first child with the French businessman. A month later, the couple got engaged and in the September of that year, they gave birth to daughter Valentina. The couple got married in a private ceremony on Valentine’s Day in 2009. In 2009, the couple renewed their vows in front of family and friends.
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However, it’s not just his high profile romance with the iconic actress that has kept him in the spotlight, He was previously married to Dorothee Lepère from 1996 to 2004, and both have two children together. He also enjoyed a brief romance with Canadian model, Linda Evangelista, which ended up being productive as the duo also share a kid together.
In 2011, the French businessman got sued by his former lover and baby mama, Linda Evangelista. He was accused of not paying a single cent to the mother of his son for his upbringing – the attorney made a quick comparison with the lifestyle his daughter Valentina enjoyed. This case gained widespread media attention, and the court ruled in the mother’s favor - $46,000 per month for child support.
In the April of 2019, the world witnessed the famous Notre-Dame Paris cathedral go down in flames. The building was completely destroyed and had to be rebuilt from scratch. During this time, Pinault was amongst the first ones to make generous amounts of donations. His donation helped in the renovation of this building – it could be said that he was amongst the few people responsible for bringing the building back to its former glory.
Pinault is known for taking a bold public stance. In fact, in 2019, he made a defining speech at the Annual Women’s Forum I Paris, where he spoke passionately about the #MeToo Movement and how big brands need to back those voices. He believes in taking accountability when you’re in a massively privileged position.
In one of his speeches, he said that companies need to think beyond their business goals and objectives and focus on building a culture that is empowering and liberating. In 2009, he formed the Kering Foundation – an organization responsible for defending women’s rights and empowering them by providing economic sufficiency and opportunities for social entrepreneurship.
He has spoken strongly against sexual and domestic violence alongside Female Genital Mutilations, child trafficking forced marriages and honor killings.
Billionaire Francois Pinault is the father of Francois-Henri Pinault, who was the actual force behind the massive Kering foundation. He literally built the company from scratch and transformed the company from a minor wood trading company to the world’s most luxurious brand!
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Pinault Jr. took over the company in 2003 and has played a crucial role in increasing the revenue of Kering. However, “would he have managed to acquire so much wealth” remains to be a question. Pinault Sr. has a net worth of 42.5B, whereas his son has an estimated worth of $25.5 billion. His wife, Salma Hayek, is also a wealthy woman who enjoys a total sum of $115 million net worth to her name.
As mentioned earlier, he formally joined the company in 2003 and, in a matter of two years, he became the CEO. He previously served as the Vice-President of PPR along with the President of Artemis – a company that holds some of the family assets. Ever since he took on the role of the CEO, he’s made several critical changes to the company. For example, he rebranded the company name and changed it from PPR to Kering. He also began focusing on brands like Gucci and Saint Laurent which have helped him immensely in increasing the overall revenues – from 3 to 10 billion dollars!
We’ve got to admit that French billionaire Francois-Henri Pinault is one hell of a man who has made some serious contributions to the world as we know it. Good for Salma Hayek!
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Hope you liked these interesting facts about Francois Pinault the founder of PPR and Girard-Perregaux!
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