The day in 1981 when Bernard Arnault (LVMH) chose exile in the United States to flee the socialists

Unknown to the business world, the young notable of Roubaix preferred to leave that year the country where François Mitterrand had just entered the Elysee Palace. Back to this episode.

We learned on Saturday, September 8 that Bernard Arnault applied for Belgian nationality , which many interpreted as the prelude to tax exile, a consequence of the policy led by François Hollande. Thirty years ago, the businessman left France for the United States when François Mitterrand arrived at the Elysee Palace.

Why he decides to leave

In 1981, Bernard Arnault, 32, runs the Férinel company with his father Jean, which is involved in property development and housing construction. The businessman is scrambling not to find a business commensurate with his ambition, when, on May 10, 1981, François Mitterrand's face appears on television. The program of the new President of the Republic is resolutely socialist, and Communists enter the government. The young man decides to leave France for the United States. In his biography, L'Ange exterminateur (Albin Michel, 2003), Airy Routier, collaborator of Challenges , writes:

"Bernard [Arnault] is not really afraid of the reds. He is not of this generation and does not pose the problem in these terms. He approaches it in a more pragmatic way. Politics, the breath of history fly over his head. He doesn't know them. He doesn't care.

On the other hand, he studied François Mitterrand's program, deplored his intention to nationalize entire sections of French industry and its entire banking system, to grant 35 weekly hours and a fifth week of paid leave, to create a tax on great fortunes. So many commitments which seem to him to be perfectly unsuited to the situation of the country and to the interests of entrepreneurs, and which, as a result, he finds it difficult to believe that they will be able to be kept. (…) Pragmatic, Bernard Arnault wants to judge on documents. But he quickly realizes. Month after month, Pierre Mauroy ( Prime Minister at the time, editor's note) implemented, one by one, most of the measures promised by François Mitterrand. (…) Bernard Arnault then chooses exile. Being part of this curious cohort of emigrant bosses, fearful or hostile to the left, will stick to his feet for a long time. He will justify this by advancing more economic than political criteria: 'The economic turn of events as it appeared in 1981 had rather worrying sides. I thought maybe now was not the time to invest and since I did not want to remain inactive, I went to look elsewhere. '

Later, he wrote in La Passion Créative ( a book of interviews, editor's note ): 'I went to the United States (...) because France was entering a phase at the time where, before investing, he It was necessary to see what was going to give the application of the ideas Mitterrand who had been elected, I remind you, on a program consisting in radically changing the liberal economic system in France. Fortunately, after two years, reality resurfaced and it calmed down. The Prime Minister has changed. Laurent Fabius has arrived and things have returned to normal '. "

How he got screwed in America

In this book, Bernard Arnault says he "never considered" settling permanently in the United States. Should we take his word for it? Wasn't his American exile rather cut short by failures? The Northerner, who has not yet earned his stripes as a raider , settles with his first wife Anne and their two children, Delphine and Antoine, in New York. Full of ambitions, he opened an office on the 45th floor of the famous Rockefeller Center, but quickly became disillusioned. Airy Routier says:

“During his American period, the king of luxury has always remained very discreet. He declares at most: 'When you have not studied in the United States, it is difficult to be accepted (…). It's difficult for a Frenchman to succeed there. ' Sweet euphemism. His American career will be anything but fun. He begins by recruiting a small team led by Michael Burke, a Franco-American, graduate of the University of Lille. In agreement with Arnault, this one sets his sights Florida. The choice is logical. This state has become the real estate El Dorado in America. (…) Burke finds land on Hutchinson Island, Arnault visits it and decides to build a tower there. 19 floors with 199 apartments to be delivered in 1986. He baptizes it Princess. $ 21 million financed by a loan of $ 17 million to Barnett Bank, the first local lending institution. But Arnault and Burke got screwed like blues. Nobody told them about the nuclear power plant that spits its smoke about fifteen kilometers away. The construction, for its part, will reveal many flaws: rooms too small to accommodate the huge king size beds that Americans adore, balconies too narrow, poorly equipped showers, etc. In addition, the program recorded a drift in its overheads and salary costs. (…) Bernard Arnault will affirm to have withdrawn a profit of 3 million dollars from this program of 30 million. Statement contradicted by one of his former collaborators who speaks, him, of a loss of 3.5 million dollars. "

When he's bored in New York

Two other real estate projects have been launched, also in Florida, near Palm Beach, with equally disappointing results. For his biographer (unofficial), "Bernard Arnault has his head elsewhere". At Rockefeller Center, he sympathizes with François Polge de Combret, former deputy secretary general of the Elysee under Giscard, who makes his ranges at Lazard. “Both are in their thirties and hardly know what they are doing there, continues Airy Routier. They feel in exile, in this world where they are nothing. Where no one expects them. In reality, they are bored. . " During their frequent lunches, the two men evoke France, and in particular what agitates the politico-industrial microcosm: "the Boussac affair", of the name of the group employing 30,000 people and owner of the Dior brand.

How the socialists make his fortune ... in France

After many twists and turns, the takeover project presented by Arnault (headed by the president of Lazard France, Antoine Bernheim) is validated at Matignon by… Laurent Fabius, before benefiting from the Mitterrandian anointing. Ironically, in 1984, it was the Socialists who brought the future first French fortune out of its American exile. And will give him "the most beautiful Christmas of his life" according to Airy Routier. With an initial stake of 40 million francs, the small notable of Roubaix becomes the boss of Boussac, which will be worth 8 billion three years later!

"When he returned to France, everything changed, remarks Airy Routier . At the lowest in the polls, forced to step back on the free school and having just suffered a failure in the European elections, the Socialists are in complete disarray. After long hesitations, François Mitterrand chose the path of reason and decided not to take the franc out of the European monetary snake. From then on, the socialist power will implement an orthodox policy: austerity for employees, lightening of charges on companies and reduction subsidies as part of a hunt for waste of public funds. "

For Bernard Arnault, the climate is finally conducive to business and big shots. His tycoon career can begin. He does not hesitate for a second to cross the Atlantic in the other direction.