Bernard Arnault

“Money is just a consequence. I always say to my team, 'Don't worry too much about profitability. If you do your job well, the profitability will come.'”

“From time to time, the Vienna Philharmonic could play without a conductor because they are so good.”

“It's very important that when you have a designer like Marc Jacobs, who is a genius, you give him complete freedom.”

“Oh, I was brought up in the north of France, and I had a very enjoyable childhood with my family working as entrepreneur.”

“It's true that I am not from the south and I have a certain reserve. I take time to get close to, and I don't immediately throw my arms round someone. But it is more a question of style.”

“Can you say that in 20 years people would still use the iPhone? Maybe not. Maybe we'd have a new product or something more innovative. What I can say today is that, in 20 years, I'm quite convinced that people will still drink Dom Perignon.”

“When I was working in my first job engineering construction, what I liked the most was working with architects and making buildings that had this creative side coming from the architect and that were making them a big success.”

“The person who I admire most in business is Warren Buffett. He is a long-term investor and has brilliant ideas, and he sticks to them.”

“When you are on the management side, you still have to understand the artistic sensibility so that there is a dialogue with the creative side.”

“When I took over Louis Vuitton, everyone said, 'It's already so big - what more can you do?' And since then, we've multiplied that success tenfold.”

“I would never diminish the quality of Hermes. Hermes can be an even rarer and greater quality business, if they ever wanted to work with us.”

“I am and will remain a tax resident in France and in this regard I will, like all French people, fulfill my fiscal obligations.”

“Steve Jobs once asked me for some advice about retail, but I said, 'I am not sure at all we are in the same business.'”

“What made Louis Vuitton famous was the quality. We don't do marketing; we just create products which are exceptional in their design and craftsmanship.”

“Once we decided to do a tower in New York, it had to say something about our group, reflecting the mix of modernity and creativity in our organization. It's a symbol.”

“People think of politicians having true power, but that's less and less true. After all, they are often constrained or being edged into a corner by a whole series of contingencies.”

“I deal with creativity all the time. What I have fun with is trying to transform creativity into business reality all over the world. To do this, you have to be connected to innovators and designers but also make their ideas livable and concrete.”

“Without hesitation, I'm voting Emmanuel Macron. Everything about the campaign of Marine Le Pen, despite its dressing of sovereignty, exudes fear and weakness.”

“I take time to get close to, and I don't immediately throw my arms round someone.”

“In the luxury business, you have to build on heritage.”