#296 Bernard Arnault (The Richest Man in the World)

What I learned from reading The Taste of Luxury: Bernard Arnault and the Moet-Hennessy Louis Vuitton Story by Nadege Forestier and Nazanine Ravai. ---- Get access to the World’s Most Valuable Notebook for Founders at Founders Notes ---- Follow one of my favorite podcasts Invest Like The Best ! ---- [1:16] I am the boss. I shall be here on Monday morning and I shall be running the company in person. [4:30] The Taste of Luxury: Bernard Arnault and the Moet-Hennessy Louis Vuitton Story by Nadege Forestier and Nazanine Ravai [5:01] I highly recommend listening to Acquired’s episode on LVMH. It is excellent. [5:16] Business Breakdowns episode LVMH: The Wolf in Cashmere’s Conglomerate [6:16] Napoleon: A Concise Biography by David Bell. (Founders #294) [6:18] Mind of Napoleon: A Selection of His Written and Spoken Words by Napoleon and J. Christopher Herold. [7:20] I’m not so dominant that I can’t listen to creative ideas coming from other people. Successful people listen. Those who don’t listen, don’t survive long. — Driven From Within by Michael Jordan (Founders #213) [9:00] “I am very competitive. I always want to win.” —Bernard Arnault [10:39] What I'm interested is in doing. [11:43] He believed in extreme discretion. [11:56] I Had Dinner With Charlie Munger (Founders #295) [16:17] Beneath his civilized appearance there lurked the spirit of an adventurer. He wanted more. [17:45] He wanted to go far. He had an iron will. At a laboriously won tennis match he said “I may lose once but I never lose twice.” —Bernard Arnault [19:45] Problems are just opportunities in work clothes. [23:30] Arnault remained inflexible. He wanted control. There was no question of his becoming the Willots’ partner. [24:15] Far from discouraging him, this consensus of opinion (that this would lead to failure) acted as a stimulus. [24:25] “I remember people telling me, it does not make sense to put together so many brands. And it was a success, it was a recognized success, and for the last 10 year