Inside François Pinault’s rags-to-riches story with Kering: the billionaire started a timber business at 16 then acquired Printemps and Christie’s – now his conglomerate owns Gucci, Balenciaga and YSL

Jan 7 , 2023

French businessman François Pinault attends the presentation of the project to install his art collection at the Paris Commercial Exchange in April 2016, in Paris, France. Photo: Getty Images

Pinault is known for his luxury empire and lengthy legal battle with rival LVMH’s CEO Bernard Arnault, but way before Kering existed, he brought food to Allied soldiers during the Nazi occupation

He now focuses on art collecting through the Pinault Foundation and owns two galleries in Venice, while his son François-Henri Pinault is Kering’s chairman and is married to actress Salma Hayek

François Pinault is tied to some of the biggest names in fashion. As the owner of French luxury group Kering, he and his family manage over a dozen high-end brands, including Gucci, Balenciaga and Yves Saint Laurent.

French billionaire François Pinault poses during a press visit of the “In Praise of Doubt” exhibition in April 2011, at the Punta della Dogana Francois Pinault foundation in Venice. Photo: AFP

Pinault was born in 1936 in Brittany, France. As a seven-year-old during the Nazi occupation, Pinault used to bring food to Allied soldiers hidden near his family’s home, according to The Guardian. Legend has it that German forces once beat Pinault and his father to try to get them to talk, but even as a child, he wouldn’t give up their location.

Here’s a look into how Pinault ended up as one of the world’s biggest fashion kings ...

François Pinault attended school at College Saint-Martin in Rennes, France

French businessman François Pinault in 1993. Photo: AFP

His classmates bullied him over his poor background and so he dropped out at 16 to start his first job at his father’s timber business, per Financial Post.

In the early 1960s, Pinault borrowed US$107,000 (100,000 francs) from his family and the bank to launch his first company, Les Établissements François Pinault, a timber trading firm, according to The Guardian. By the early 70s, he started building an empire by buying up smaller timber firms.

He acquired French department store Printemps

Printemps in Paris was founded in 1865. Photo: Shutterstock

Beginning in the 1990s, Pinault looked beyond the timber business. He acquired French department store Printemps – a controversial deal that put Pinault on the map – then added a vineyard to his portfolio with the acquisition of Chateau Latour, a winery in Bordeaux.