The path that François Pinault followed

The path that François Pinault followed is worthy of admiration - from a simple worker at his father's sawmill, to a world-famous entrepreneur and art collector. Today, the Pino family's fortune is estimated at billions of dollars. He is one of the few people who had a personal phone number for French President Jacques Chirac. And he, according to rumors, provided comprehensive support to the business person - after all, Francois once saved his life.

Wood business

François Pinault was born on August 21, 1936, in a small French village in the province of Brittany, in the family of a timber merchant. The boy's studies were of little interest. In addition, in college, he was often teased because of his rural accent and peasant origin. At 16, he stopped attending classes and helped his father.

In 1956, François enlisted in the army - uprisings began in Algeria, which was a French colony. In the military service, he earned start-up capital to start his own business, but the money came in handy only after a few years. Two years later, after returning home, Pino, on the recommendation of his father, got a job in a company selling timber.

In 1962, François married Louise Gaultier, daughter of the owner of the company, and soon ran the business himself. The company was renamed the Pinault Company, and they made large financial investments into it, including by Pino himself. However, the marriage did not last long: the couple divorced five years later, although they already had three children - François-Henri, Dominique, and Lawrence. Pino had to pay compensation to the Gaultier family, but he remained with the company.

In the early 70s, he began buying dozens of small firms on the brink of bankruptcy across the country in order to expand his concern. The takeover scheme was simple: he waited for the company's value to fall to a minimum, then bought it. He used the same principle later for market giants.

In those same years, Pino made a deal that brought him impressive profits. He unexpectedly sold his successful company for 25 million francs but kept 20% of the shares. While in the position of CFO, François placed a gigantic order for timber, which caused a real collapse in the market. Material prices plummeted, but to cancel the awful order, the new owners of the company would have to pay an extortionate fine. Since they did not have the named amount, they agreed to sell the Pinault firm for 5 million francs.

And this is not the only example of François Pinault's entrepreneurial ability. In 1974, he predicted or received from reliable sources information about the change in the price of sugar. Pinault invested 300 thousand in the business and earned 10 million francs on it.

Around the same time, François remarried. His chosen one was Maryvonne Campbell, an antique dealer. She introduced the future billionaire to the art world. Pino became interested in this area of investing money and bought world masterpieces of painting.

Abrupt course change

François Pinault's logging business was on its feet when, in 1988, he decided to radically change direction and began investing in various retail companies. He bought a majority stake in several companies: the CFAO distributor in Africa, Conforama home furnishings chain, Printemps department store, La Redoute mail-order store, and books and electronics firm FNA. In 1993, they renamed Pino to Pinault-Printemps-Redoute, and in 2005, PPR.

A year earlier, in 1992, the business owner created the holding company Artémis to manage the investments of the Pino family. They the news magazine Le Point in 1997, Christie's in 1998, and the Ponant cruise line in 2015. Now the holding also controls wine production in Château Latour, Clos de Tart, Domaine d'Eugénie, Château Grillet, Eisele. Another investment Pinault - football club "Rennes", winner of the French Cup: they bought him in 1998.

By the end of the 90s, the luxury industry became the primary interest of Francois Pinault. So, in 1999, Pinault-Printemps-Redoute bought a controlling stake in Gucci Group for $3 billion and Yves Saint Laurent. In 2000, Pinault gained the French jewelry company Boucheron, 2001 - Balenciaga, and the British fashion house Alexander McQueen. In the press, the business owner has even nicknamed the octopus: he bought up any companies and brands that seemed promising to him.

In 2003, the elderly billionaire handed over the management of his companies to his eldest son François-Henri, who is no less famous in business circles. The successor of the family business did not deviate from the planned course and gained the brands Brioni, Girard-Perregaux, and Pomellato. In 2013, PPR changed its name to Kering. The entrepreneur's son is also famous for his marriage to actress Salma Hayek.

Billionaire personality

Joseph Marc Blumenthal described François Pinault as a very tough and domineering leader. For example, after buying another company, he could not hesitate to cut almost all staff, and the first to cut its top managers. In such situations, the interests of business, not people guided solely by the entrepreneur.

Pinault was always very proud of his friendship with French President Jacques Chirac. Back in the 60s, the business person met a junior official, Jacques, and after that, while in prominent government positions, François provided tangible support. So, in 1981, Pinault gained a state-owned timber processing company for only 1 franc. All this is because the entrepreneur dissuaded Chirac from a dangerous trip on the train, which was later blown up by terrorists.

After handing over the management of the companies to his son, François focused on art. Now his collection includes about five thousand works of famous masters - Pablo Picasso, Pete Mondrian, Andy Warhol, and Jeff Koons. However, Pino approaches collecting from the point of view of benefits - investments should bring income. The billionaire even conceived of creating a large museum to house his art collection. The collection will be on display at the Paris Bourse, and the exhibition is scheduled to open in the spring of 2021.

The Pino family is also involved in charity work. In 2019, they allocated 109 million dollars for the restoration of Notre Dame Cathedral after the fire, in 2018 - contributed significantly to the restoration of Victor Hugo's house. Earlier, in 1990, the billionaire took part in the restoration of Burned down French forests, in 2000 he provided financial help to the islands of Brittany, affected by a spill of hazardous substances after the sinking of the oil tanker "Erica".

The figure of François Pinault causes the most controversial rumors in society. On the one hand, he is a successful entrepreneur who built a business empire, although he himself was from a simple peasant family. They say that in order to achieve success, Francois did not disdain dubious and even illegal transactions. In 2020 the Pinault family is ranked 27th on the Forbes list. Her fortune is estimated at $27 billion.

Quotes

"My competitors will either die themselves or I'll eat them."

"My only diploma is a car license."