2023-08-08 05:30:12
A divine surprise. This Monday, June 21, 2021, Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron arrive under the luminous glass roof of La Samaritaine, which finally opens its doors, after sixteen years and 750 million euros of work. The visit was kept secret until the last moment. Invited by its new owner, Bernard Arnault, Emmanuel Macron says to himself ” iron “ to inaugurate this “heritage treasure”savoring the applause of the 800 employees, standing on the double staircase restored with gold leaf.
Read the first episode of our series “LVMH, a State within a State”: Article reserved for our subscribers How Bernard Arnault, the richest man in the world, extends his empire beyond luxury
This is the first time that a president in office has traveled for the opening of a department store. Since the CEO of the LVMH group bought this Art Deco jewel, it has been devoted to luxury: 600 prestigious brands, a five-star hotel and a gourmet restaurant, geared more towards high-end tourism than to Parisians. “The LVMH group illustrates French genius”welcomes the Head of State, before strolling with the billionaire between designer shoes and exotic leather bags.
Since 2017, Emmanuel Macron has been happy to appear alongside « [son] cher Bernard », the richest man in the world after Elon Musk. “Is it the place of the President of the Republic, guarantor of the general interest, to go and inaugurate a department store? », sighs Nicolas Sarkozy’s former special adviser, Henri Guaino, who is not alone in wondering. Few big bosses are entitled to such consideration. The eternal rival François Pinault, whose intimacy with Jacques Chirac is advanced to minimize the proximity between MM. Arnault and Macron, did not have the honor of welcoming the Head of State for the inauguration of his Bourse de commerce, in 2021.
Bernard Arnault with Anne Hidalgo and Brigitte and Emmanuel Macron during the reopening of La Samaritaine, in Paris, on June 21, 2021. CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT / AFP Read also (1999): Article reserved for our subscribers “It’s a dream” or the day of billion
Woven when Emmanuel Macron is Deputy Secretary General of the Elysée, their ties are strengthened thanks to their wives, who cross paths at Franklin, the very chic Jesuit high school in the west of Paris, where Brigitte teaches two of the five Arnault children, Frédéric and Jean. In 2017, the entrepreneur, who nevertheless hates exposing himself, calls for a vote in favor of the candidate of En Marche! And has been advocating for it ever since. “He is an extraordinary personality, he repeats to Monde. Its economic orientation is in line with what I think is good for France. » If François Pinault estimated, in 2018, that “Macron does not understand the little people”Bernard Arnault thinks ” completely the opposite “. To see it on TV “Walking around like that in France, being criticized, keeping your cool and responding”he even finds it « extraordinaire ».
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