Louis Vuitton CEO, Bernard Arnault Declares Sale Of His Private Jet
October 18, 2022 By Omal J
(Image Credit Google)
The CEO of LVMH, Bernard Arnault, declared on Monday that the sale of the company's private jet came as a result of people trying to locate it online.
The 73-year-old businessman claimed that he had switched to renting private aircraft. In an interview with Radio Classique, he made the statement, which was first covered by Bloomberg. LVMH is the radio station's owner.
"Indeed, with all these stories, the group had a plane and we sold it," Arnault said, according to a Bloomberg translation. "The result now is that no one can see where I go because I rent planes when I use private planes."
Over the past year, a number of Twitter accounts have appeared that follow and broadcast publicly available flight data, promoting the travel plans of celebrities like Taylor Swift and Elon Musk. @i fly Bernard and @laviondeBernard are two of the most popular accounts that monitor the flights of the co-founder of Louis Vuitton. Both accounts were made in the last six months and have a total following of about 100,000.
It seems that Arnault switched to renting jets a few weeks ago. After noticing a few weeks earlier that LVMH had de-registered its aircraft in France, @laviondebernard tweeted in September about the billionaire's lack of current flight data.
"Still no word from either Bernard Arnault or LVMH on the subject of private jets," the account tweeted on September 10, according to a Bloomberg translation of the tweet. "So Bernard, are you hiding?"
With an estimated net worth of $133 billion, Arnault is the second-richest person after Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He built up a luxury goods empire that includes well-known brands like Tiffany & Co., TAG Heuer, and Dom Pérignon while serving as the CEO, cofounder, and chair of LVMH.
After his father received criticism from French media outlets regarding the use of a private plane by the company, Antoine Arnault, his father's son, defended the use of a private jet by the company on Monday. A private plane, according to the younger Arnault, provided executives an advantage in the fight to be the first to market with a new item or contract.
"Our industry is hypercompetitive," the son said on a TV show, according to an Insider translation. "We haven't found anything better than a private plane to win that race every day and be just a small step ahead of our competitors."
The use of private jets by billionaires has attracted attention recently, and Bernard Arnault is not the only one. Swift received harsh criticism in July after she and her jet were listed as the main contributors to carbon emissions. At the time, representatives for the musician claimed that the "jet is frequently lent to other people."
By Omal J
I worked for both print and electronic media as a feature journalist. Writing, traveling, and DIY sum up her life.