Focus : The race for Bernard Arnault’s influence

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Billionaire Bernard Arnault has attracted a great deal of interest from the international press in recent weeks with his attempt to get the LVMH group out of an agreement with the American jeweler Tiffany & Co. However, what has attracted much less interest from the media is the more than 6% stake he recently acquired in the investment group Lagardère SCA. The day before this transaction, Challenge owner Claude Perdriel confirmed to Le Monde newspaper the acquisition of more than 40% of the media group.

 

In the space of a few days, Europe’s richest man has strengthened his investments in the media world.

 

He thus increased his stake in the Lagardère SCA group by 1.2% to 6.2%. It should be remembered that Lagardère is a once flourishing investment group, with investments in aviation among others, but now in difficulty, which focuses on media, publishing, and points of sale in train stations and airports.

 

The investment “underscores our commitment to Lagardère’s integrity and development“, said the Arnault Group in its September 24th press release.

 

In order to understand why Bernard Arnault, whose fortune would amount to 86 billion dollars according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index and which owns a large number of luxury brands such as Dior, Fendi, Louis Vuitton, Hennessy Cognac and Dom Pérignon Champagne, would want shares in a shrinking group such as Lagardère, we need to take a closer look at the investment group.

 

The Lagardère group has media assets in several French media, such as Paris Match, the weekly French news and image magazine, which has a reputation for having good political influence, but also Europe 1, the general news radio station, and the weekly news magazine Journal du Dimanche, which has a large readership and is the only national Sunday weekly.

 

For many observers of the millionaire, this transaction between Arnault and Lagardère is not insignificant and reflects Arnault’s desire to gain more political influence.

 

The LVMH group, which belongs to Bernard Arnault, owns other major brands in the French media landscape, such as the leading financial daily Les Echos, as well as Le Parisien, the French regional daily par excellence. This is therefore not the first time that the billionaire has tried to get closer to the media, but this new media deal further strengthens his influence in the French political world.

 

Bernard Arnault was able to use this political influence, particularly in the case between LVMH and the American jeweler Tiffany & Co. The French group LVMH obtained a letter from Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian requesting a postponement of the agreement following a trade dispute between France and the United States, which the group used to withdraw.

 

Although LVMH denied having played any role in obtaining the letter, Jean-Yves Le Drian responded that he had intervened in a matter involving the company and that it was “his duty to protect French interests“.

 

Being the owner of these newspapers gives him media influence, and that means you want him to withdraw“, said Julia Cage, an economics professor at Sciences Po in Paris, referring to Jean-Yves Le Drian’s letter.

 

In 2016, a controversy arose after Les Echos and Le Parisien decided not to publish a review of the film “Merci Patron” by François Ruffin, a left-wing MP who, through his documentary, criticized the power of the rich, particularly LVMH. The following year, François Ruffin’s name was removed from an article written by a columnist.

 

However, these censures represent isolated cases and are not frequent, according to media outlets belonging to Arnault. Even though, in the LVMH-Tiffany case, the media outlet Les Echos, subtly addressed the question of whether Bernard Arnault used his influence to obtain a letter from Jean-Yves Le Drian, stating that this was due to “collateral damage“.

 

Read also > AGENDA : THE PARCOURS BIJOUX FESTIVAL WILL TAKE PLACE FROM OCTOBER 6 TO 25 IN PARIS

 

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The Parisian jewelry house Djula began its selective distribution and opened its first boutique in the prestigious SKP Beijing, the department store dedicated to international luxury brands in the heart of Beijing.

 

Located on the first floor of the shopping mall, the one dedicated to jewelry and fine jewelry, the shop is based on the concept of the House of Djula: Art Deco style, contrasting black and white, sandblasted glass and perfect harmony between metal and marble.

 

The boutique’s architecture echoes the Parisian Jeweller’s know-how. The flagship collections, such as Barbelé, Soleil, Fairy Tale, Mix and Match and Magic Touch, designed by Alexandre Corrot, are on display.

 

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The Parisian jewelry house Djula began its selective distribution and opened its first boutique in the prestigious SKP Beijing, the department store dedicated to international luxury brands in the heart of Beijing.

 

Located on the first floor of the shopping mall, the one dedicated to jewelry and fine jewelry, the shop is based on the concept of the House of Djula: Art Deco style, contrasting black and white, sandblasted glass and perfect harmony between metal and marble.

 

The boutique’s architecture echoes the Parisian Jeweller’s know-how. The flagship collections, such as Barbelé, Soleil, Fairy Tale, Mix and Match and Magic Touch, designed by Alexandre Corrot, are on display.

 

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The editorial team
The editorial team
Thanks to its extensive knowledge of these sectors, the Luxus + editorial team deciphers for its readers the main economic and technological stakes in fashion, watchmaking, jewelry, gastronomy, perfumes and cosmetics, hotels, and prestigious real estate.

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