He Bought Gucci and turned Kering into an Empire

it isn't easy being a high school dropout and becoming one of the biggest billionaires in the world but this guy made it happen anyway this is francoise pinot legend has it that when he was very young he used to carry food to allied airmen hidden near the family home during the occupation of france returning home one day a german patrol grabbed little francois and ruthlessly beat his father to make one of them confess neither did apparently francois never even blinked at the age of seven the boy was already cultivating the determination recklessness and contempt for authority that would eventually make him france's richest man and most successful corporate raider francois was born in august 21 in 1936 on cote d'amour a relatively modest area of brittany he was born into a family of small-time timber traders after leaving school at the age of 16 without a qualification to his name he joined the family firm to make ends meet he worked there for over a decade until the time finally came for him to step out on his own to start his first business a 27 year old francois borrowed 100 000 francs from his family and credit leones in 1962. the business was a small timber company called les tablismo francois pino things were going moderately well and within a decade francois had set his eyes on expansion he began buying up various small undervalued firms in the process he built a thriving business of his own as time went on francoise acquisition endeavors escalated the french government was seeking to preserve jobs by heavily subsidizing entrepreneurs to buy up companies that were on the verge of bankruptcy and a lucky francoise was able to acquire failing companies at fire sale prices sometimes paying as little as one franc for the next few years francois bought up numerous companies and then used government aid to turn them around and sell them at a profit and through this the savvy businessman gradually amassed a massive fortune but would things continue to go on as smooth sailing francoise ruthlessness in turning companies around soon became apparent in 1986 he bought france's leading plywood manufacturer issoroy and in just two months he drastically reduced the head office staff numbers from 700 to 25. while he had been firmly cemented in the timber business when he set out over time francoise targets began to look different and lumber manufacturers became construction materials providers and paper suppliers then in the early 1900s more change came when francois acquired the french department store chain au printem and the pinot printem group was formed two years later following the merger of la ridau the group was renamed again this time they went for pinot pintem redao or ppr by now francois was a multi-billionaire and his company was clearly set on a path of becoming one of the largest luxury goods groups in the world of course nobody gets to sit on top of billions of dollars in a single generation without being very very good at what they're doing and one thing you need to know about francois is that he is really good at making money he's so good it's almost frightening said an analyst at the french bank he has a sixth sense for opportunities he times his bids and sell-offs to perfection he has no compassion when it comes to the bottom line and he fears no one but little did francois know a fierce battle was on its way after having acquired numerous companies with ease it was now time for francois to meet a worthy opponent bernard arno of lvmh louis vuitton moe hennessy it was the year 1999 lvmh was already the world's luxury goods market leader and bernard wanted to add once grand italian brand to his ample luxury portfolio gucci wasn't interested however and after bernard launched a hostile takeover they desperately turned to francois as a somewhat improbable white knight at the time francois was looking for a ticket out of western europe where his lackluster retail and industrial holdings were concentrated so he decided to help out and was now locked in battle with bernard for control of gucci by the time the legal fight was over francois staggered from the ring dead ridden but victorious the two men had entered history as the ali frazier of fashion and they are still remembered that way today francois had acquired a 42 stake in gucci group for 2.9 billion dollars and the purchase kick-started ppr's reign as a luxury powerhouse from here on there was no more looking back and francois bought up several other luxurious fashion houses such as yves saint laurent valencia and botega veneta ppr had come a long way from its timber trading days and it was clearly set on the glamorous path to luxury goods but as francois would soon learn not everything he touches turns to gold francois founded lesitablismo francois pigno in 1962. a month after his son francois henri was born after graduating from hec business school in paris young francois henri did his military service at an economic posting with the french consulate in la he loved california and wanted to stay longer but his father's empire was calling so in 1987 a 25 year old francois henri flew home to start working in the lower rungs of his father's company fast forward to the year 1999 and francois had just transformed ppr into a multi-brand luxury goods group through the acquisition of gucci four years later however and with several of his new luxury brands ailing badly francois knew it was time for a drastic change at the time francois henri had spent most of his career in the muddier outposts of his father's empire and nobody really knew who he was nevertheless francois invited his son to dinner and told him that he had decided to step down and that he would be taking over effective immediately and just like that the younger pinot was appointed chair and ceo of the company monday morning comes and i go into my office and i say what's going on here francois henry recalled they say you're the boss so you should go to the boss's office apparently pinyo senior had come to work early and had moved out of his office and into his sons it was funny and dramatic and surreal i never expected it to happen so fast i was still only 40 years old and my father was 66 and in great shape full of plans for ppr but he had seen too many omnipotent fathers and what they did being handed the keys to his father's business empire was a pivotal moment for francois henri's career but he was handed the keys to an uncertain kingdom the company francois henry inherited was lopsided and struggling gucci led by the flamboyant duo of tom ford and domencio di solei had slowed and the other brands that had been bought to complement it were losing money badly passed with transforming the failing company into the apex of fashion francois henri got to work and for the next decades he turned his father's empire upside down through a series of controversial hirings firings and acquisitions he quickly ditched the wood training and electrical distribution businesses and sold off most of the retail operations by doing so francois henri was able to venture further into luxury goods but it wasn't easy the pressure was constantly on and he basically had to bend over backwards to prove he was worthy of taking over the ambitious transformation also saw the unveiling of a new name and logo ppr became peering and an owl became its icon symbolizing wisdom change and knowledge the changes marked the start of francois henry's footprint in the world but then a hard decision had to be made with the renewal of tom ford and demencio de soleil's contracts due in 2004 francois henri controversially cut them loose at the time tom ford held the entire fashion world enthrall he was a very big star and many in the industry were convinced that gucci would be finished without him the decision to let ford go was incredibly hard for francois henry but he analyzed where gucci had gone off course and made sure it would never happen again he undid everything ford had put in place and decided that from then on all brands would be run separately and no designer would ever be bigger than the brand again today francois henry is on the cusp of unparalleled success his multi-billion dollar empire has an annual revenue of over 13 billion dollars and the company has grown to become a major global luxury group with an extraordinary portfolio that includes brands like saint laurent valencia gucci bottega veneta and alexander mcqueen to name just a few computer programmer pharmaceutical equipment salesman military servicemen salma hayek's husband and father of four are some of the diverse hats francois henry has worn and his plans for the future remain as ambitious as ever he is dedicated to leading not only caring but also other companies including his competitors to a greener and more renewable future and with the fashion industry being the second largest consumer of the world's water supply there is definitely a lot of room for improvement it makes no sense to pit purpose against profit he said in 2019 there is plenty of evidence to show that sustainable companies enjoy better performances and sustainability is a business opportunity but as powerful as francois henri has become the first person the pinot name calls to mind is still his father even francois henri's now wife salma hayek made that mistake before their first date in 2006 when mima viglesio a former gucci executive called salma up to try and arrange a date for the two of them salma's response was what do you mean i'm not going out with some 70 year old guy in salma's defense it's an easy enough mistake to make and luckily for them the misunderstanding was eventually cleared up had you already heard of the caring brand and its interesting history share it in the comments and if you'd like to get inspired by even more unusual business stories then make sure to take a look at our channel

Channel: Business Stories

Views: 35,867

Keywords: Business Stories, kering, kering group, groupe kering, kering group brands, gucci, gucci kering, kering gucci, gucci story, gucci owner story, François-Henri Pinault interview, François-Henri Pinault, François Pinault bernard arnault, François Pinault kering, Francois Pinault documentaire, kering group story, kering group founder, kering story, kering founder, kering group documentary, luxury group, balenciaga owner, Saint Laurent owner, Bottega Veneta owner, gucci owner

Id: c3kVcE6d9Do

Length: 12min 39sec (759 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 24 2022