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François Pinault (born 21 August 1936) is a French billionaire businessman, founder of the luxury group Kering and the investment
holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...
Artémis. Pinault started his business in the timber industry in the early 1960s. Taken public in 1988, his company invested in specialty store chains and changed its name to Pinault-Printemps-Redoute (PPR). By the end of 1999, PPR shifted towards luxury and fashion. In 2003, he passed on the management of his companies to his elder son François-Henri to follow his passion for contemporary art.


Early life

François Pinault was born on 21 August 1936 in Les Champs-Géraux, a commune in the north of
Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period o ...
in the west of France. His father was a timber trader. Pinault grew up in the rural French countryside, beginning his career working for his family's timber business. He dropped out of school at the age of 16 from the College Saint-Martin in
Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine departm ...
. In 1956, he enlisted in the military during the
Algerian war The Algerian War, also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence,( ar, الثورة الجزائرية '; '' ber, Tagrawla Tadzayrit''; french: Guerre d'Algérie or ') and sometimes in Algeria as the War of 1 November ...
. Afterwards, he returned to the family business, which he sold following his father's death. In 1962, he married Louise Gautier. They had three children: François-Henri, Dominique, and Laurence Pinault. The couple divorced five years later, and in 1970, Pinault married Maryvonne Campbell, an antique trader in Rennes who introduced him to the world of art. His first art purchases date back to this period.


Career

François Pinault started his first business in 1963 as a wood-trading company. Pinault SA grew strongly and diversified its portfolio by acquiring several companies facing bankruptcy, including Chapelle Darblay, to restructure them. On 25 October 1988, Pinault SA was taken public in the
Paris stock exchange Euronext Paris is France's securities market, formerly known as the Paris Bourse, which merged with the Amsterdam, Lisbon, and Brussels exchanges in September 2000 to form Euronext NV. As of 2022, the 795 companies listed had a combined marke ...
and started to invest in specialty store chains. He acquired a majority stake in
CFAO (enterprise) Naval Base Okinawa, now Naval Facility Okinawa, was and is a number of bases built after the Battle of Okinawa by United States Navy on the Okinawa Island of Japan. The naval bases were built to support the landings on Okinawa on April 1, 1945, a ...
(specialized distribution in Africa),
Conforama Conforama is Europe's second-largest home furnishings retail chain with over 200 stores in France, Spain, Switzerland, Portugal, Luxembourg, Italy, and Croatia. History and ownership In the early 1960s, Pierre and Guy Sordoillet, Jean Moll ...
(furnishing retailer),
Printemps Printemps (; meaning "springtime" in French) is a French department store chain (french: grand magasin, links=no, literally "big store"). The Printemps stores focus on beauty, lifestyle, fashion, accessories, and men's wear. The Printemps w ...
(department store),
La Redoute La Redoute is a French multi channel retailer founded by Joseph Pollet in 1837. La Redoute specialises in ready to wear apparel and home decor, La Redoute is the 2nd largest seller of women's apparel and the 3rd largest seller of linens in Fra ...
(mail order), and
Fnac Fnac () is a large French retail chain selling cultural and electronic products, founded by André Essel and Max Théret in 1954. Its head office is in ''Le Flavia'' in Ivry-sur-Seine near Paris. It is an abbreviation of Fédération Nationale d ...
(books and electronics retailer). Pinault Sa was renamed Pinault-Printemps-Redoute (PPR) in 1993. In 1992, Pinault set up the holding company Artémis to manage the Pinault family's investments. Controlled 100% by Pinault and his family, Artémis controls the French vineyard
Château Latour Château Latour is a French wine estate, rated as a First Growth under the 1855 Bordeaux Classification, owned by Groupe Artemis. Latour lies at the very southeastern tip of the commune of Pauillac in the Médoc region to the north-west of Borde ...
(Bordeaux),
Clos de Tart Clos de Tart is an ''Appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (AOC) and Grand Cru vineyard for red wine in the Côte de Nuits subregion of Burgundy, with Pinot noir as the main grape variety. It is situated in the commune of Morey-Saint-Denis in the C ...
(Bourgogne), Domaine d'Eugénie ( Vosne-Romanée), Château Grillet (Rhône Valley), Eisele Vineyard (
Napa Valley Napa Valley is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) located in Napa County in California's Wine Country. It was established by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) on January 27, 1981. Napa Valley is considered one of the premier ...
). Artémis bought the news magazine ''
Le Point ''Le Point'' () is a French weekly political and news magazine published in Paris. History and profile ''Le Point'' was founded in September 1972 by a group of journalists who had, one year earlier, left the editorial team of '' L'Express'', w ...
'' in 1997, the auction house
Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is owned by Groupe Artémis, t ...
in 1998, and the luxury cruise company Ponant in 2015. Pinault has been the owner of the Rennes football club since 1998. By the end of century, François Pinault started to shift his business focus from retail to luxury. In March 1999, Pinault-Printemps-Redoute purchased a controlling 42% stake of the
Gucci Gucci (, ; ) is an Italian high-end Luxury goods, luxury fashion house based in Florence, Italy. Its product lines include handbags, ready-to-wear, footwear, accessories, and home decoration; and it licenses its name and branding to Coty Inc., ...
Group for $3 billion, and bought the Yves Saint Laurent company. Pinault then purchased the French jewelry company Boucheron in 2000,
Balenciaga Balenciaga SA ( ) is a luxury fashion house founded in 1919 by the Spanish designer Cristóbal Balenciaga in San Sebastian, Spain. Balenciaga produces ready-to-wear, footwear, handbags, and accessories and licenses its name and branding to ...
in 2001, and the British fashion house
Alexander McQueen Lee Alexander McQueen CBE (17 March 1969 – 11 February 2010) was a British fashion designer and couturier. He founded his own Alexander McQueen label in 1992, and was chief designer at Givenchy from 1996 to 2001. His achievements in fashi ...
. In May 2003, he handed over the management of his companies to his son François-Henri who pursued the consolidation of the luxury group with new acquisitions ( Brioni, Girard-Perregaux, Pomellato...) and changed the group's name to Kering in 2013.


Art

Pinault bought his first significant painting, ''Cour de ferme'' by Paul Sérusier, in 1980. He collected art of the 20th century (
Mondrian Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan (), after 1906 known as Piet Mondrian (, also , ; 7 March 1872 – 1 February 1944), was a Dutch painter and art theoretician who is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He is known for being o ...
,
Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th century, he is kn ...
,
Man Ray Man Ray (born Emmanuel Radnitzky; August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976) was an American visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealist movements, although his ties to each ...
, ...) before following contemporary artists ( David Hammons, Rudolf Stingel,
Damien Hirst Damien Steven Hirst (; né Brennan; born 7 June 1965) is an English artist, entrepreneur, and art collector. He is one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is reportedly the United King ...
,
Jeff Koons Jeffrey Lynn Koons (; born January 21, 1955) is an American artist recognized for his work dealing with popular culture and his sculptures depicting everyday objects, including balloon animals produced in stainless steel with mirror-Surface fi ...
,
Subodh Gupta Subodh Gupta, (born 1964) is an Indian contemporary artist based in New Delhi. His work encompasses sculpture, installation, painting, photography, performance and video. Early life and education Gupta was born in Khagaul, a small town in Bih ...
,
Paul McCarthy Paul McCarthy (born August 4, 1945) is a contemporary artist who lives and works in Los Angeles, California. Life McCarthy was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1945. He studied art at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, and later continued ...
,
Bruce Nauman Bruce Nauman (born December 6, 1941) is an American artist. His practice spans a broad range of media including sculpture, photography, neon, video, drawing, printmaking, and performance. Nauman lives near Galisteo, New Mexico. Life and work ...
, Donald Judd,
Robert Ryman Robert Ryman (May 30, 1930February 8, 2019) was an American painter identified with the movements of monochrome painting, minimalism, and conceptual art. He was best known for abstract, white-on-white paintings. He lived and worked in New York ...
, ...). In 2019, his art collection contained approximately 5,000 works. In 2005, François Pinault bought the company Palazzo Grassi SpA which operated the Palazzo Grassi in
Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...
. The Japanese architect Tadao Ando renovated the historical building which housed the first exhibition of Pinault Collection in 2006. One year later, the Venice city council awarded the tender of the
Punta della Dogana Punta della Dogana is an art museum in one of Venice's old customs buildings, the ''Dogana da Mar''. It also refers to the triangular area of Venice where the Grand Canal meets the Giudecca Canal, and its collection of buildings: Santa Maria dell ...
, which had been abandoned for 30 years, to Pinault Collection, adding 5,000 m² to the Palazzo Grassi space in Venice. Tadao Ando also restored this historical site, which reopened to the public in June 2009. In 2013, Pinault achieved the third chapter of his cultural project in Venice with the renovation and transformation of the Teatrino, an open-air theater in ruins. Designed once again by Tadao Ando, the new Teatrino holds a 225-seat auditorium. In 2016, Pinault and the city of
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...
announced their plan to turn the Bourse de commerce in the center of Paris ( 1st arrondissement) into a new, Pinault Collection-branded contemporary art museum. Tadao Ando was put in charge of transforming the historic building. The museum opened in May 2021. Palais Grassi.jpg, Palazzo Grassi, Venice. Venezia-punta_della_dogana.jpg,
Punta della Dogana Punta della Dogana is an art museum in one of Venice's old customs buildings, the ''Dogana da Mar''. It also refers to the triangular area of Venice where the Grand Canal meets the Giudecca Canal, and its collection of buildings: Santa Maria dell ...
, Venice. P1040010 Paris Ier Bourse de Commerce de Paris rwk.JPG, Bourse de commerce, Paris.
In 2014, François Pinault launched, through the Pinault Collection, an artist residency program in
Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements'' ...
(Northern France) which opened in 2015. In 2015, in memory of his friend the writer (and
Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th century, he is kn ...
biographer)
Pierre Daix Pierre Georges Daix (24 May 1922, Ivry-sur-Seine – 2 November 2014, Paris) was a French journalist, writer and art historian. He was a friend and biographer of Pablo Picasso. As a young man, Daix was an ardent Stalinist. He joined the French C ...
who passed away in 2014, Pinault created the Pierre Daix Prize to reward an outstanding book on modern and contemporary art every year.


Other commitments

In 1990, following a fire in the Paimpont forest in
Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period o ...
, Pinault immediately financed the reforestation project. In 2000, he provided a significant financial assistance to help the islands in Brittany affected by the oil spill following the sinking of the '' Erika''. In 2018, Pinault made a significant contribution to the restoration of
Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...
's house, the Hauteville House, in Guernsey. After the Notre Dame de Paris fire on April 15th, 2019, the Pinault family pledged 100 million euros as a donation to the reconstruction works and repairs of the cathedral. In 2022, he pledged to finance the restoration of the Chapelle Saint-Michel on top of the Monts d'Arrée that was deteriorated by a wildfire.


Wealth

As of 31 January 2021, according to ''
Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
'', Pinault had a net worth estimated at $43.4 billion. As of October 2022, according to the ''
Bloomberg Billionaires Index The ''Bloomberg Billionaires Index'', launched in March 2012, is a daily ranking of the world's 500 richest people based on their net worth. It draws information from "action in the stock market, economic indicators and news reports", features a p ...
'', Pinault's wealth was estimated at US$33.5 billion, making him the 31st richest person in the world. In 2021, he bought the
hôtel particulier An ''hôtel particulier'' () is a grand townhouse, comparable to the British townhouse or mansion. Whereas an ordinary ''maison'' (house) was built as part of a row, sharing party walls with the houses on either side and directly fronting on a ...
Hôtel de Cavoye in the
7th arrondissement of Paris The 7th arrondissement of Paris (''VIIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''le septième''. The arrondissement, called Palais-Bourbon in a r ...
for 80 million euros. He is also the owner of the château de la Mormaire (
Yvelines Yvelines () is a department in the western part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.ArtReview ''ArtReview'' is an international contemporary art magazine based in London, founded in 1948. Its sister publication, ''ArtReview Asia'', was established in 2013. History Launched as a fortnightly broadsheet in February 1949 by a retired country ...
'' *2011:
Grand officier de la Légion d'honneur Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and co ...
*2016: Grand Officer of the
Ordine della Stella d'Italia The Order of the Star of Italy ( it, Ordine della Stella d'Italia ) is an Italian order of chivalry that was founded in 2011. The order was reformed from the Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity by the 11th President of Italy, Giorgio Napoli ...
*2017:
Grand Croix de la Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...


Further reading

* *Dal Co, Francesco (2009). ''Tadao Ando for François Pinault: From Ile Seguin to Punta Della Dogana''. Mondadori Electa. . *Anfam, David (2006). ''Where Are We Going?: Selections from the Francois Pinault Collection''. Skira. .


References


External links


Ranking on ArtReview Power List
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pinault, Francois 1936 births People from Côtes-d'Armor Businesspeople from Brittany 20th-century French businesspeople 21st-century French businesspeople French businesspeople in fashion French company founders French art collectors French billionaires French military personnel of the Algerian War Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur Pinault family Kering people Living people