This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (December 2012)

Delphine Arnault (4 April 1975) is a French businesswoman with the LVMH. The daughter of Bernard Arnault, she is one of the richest women in the world; on September 24, 2005, she married Alessandro Vallarino Gancia, heir to an Italian wine fortune, and then divorced in 2010. In July 2012 she is pregnant and expecting her first child.^[1]

Biography [edit]

Arnault was in 2008 one of the France's/world's richest women with a wealth exceeding €1.4 billion ($2 billion). In 2010 her networth stands at a reported €2.8 billion ($3.9 billion). At the age of 28 she became the only woman to have reached the position of director for LVMH. In 2002 she controlled 7.5% of the stocks in LVMH and is the second biggest individual stockholder Measured in turnover, Gilles Hennessy is the first. LVMH is the biggest luxury produce company in the world. In France she has been referred to as the Napoleon of the luxury product business, and as the Wolf in a cashmere coat. She became the HR manager for the LVMH group in 2008. Arnault has particularly contributed in the development of Dior Parfums.

Arnault graduated from EDHEC Business School in Lille and the London School of Economics. She has been the leader of several organisations, not only those linked to her father's business, but also scholarly organisations like student organisations at the London School of Economics. Before joining her father's company she worked for McKinsey & Company in Paris.^[2] She has a silent personality and dislikes media attention. She appreciates the arts, particularly dadaism, and she covets collectibles, just like her father.

Wedding [edit]

Arnault married on Saturday, September 24, 2005, in the Roman Catholic Cathédrale Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Bazas in Gironde, classified by Unesco as a world heritage building. She married the 37 year-old Alessandro Vallarino Gancia, heir to Gancia, an Italian dynasty of wines. Her wedding became the main happening in 2005 for the French upper class. Her dress was designed by John Galliano for Dior. After the ceremony, the reception took place in the Château d'Yquem, in Bordeaux.

The guests included personalities of the business world, politics and fashion. Among them, were John Galliano, who designed her haute couture dress for the wedding and the one for the reception, Bernadette Chirac, former French first lady, the designer Karl Lagerfeld, Glenda Bailey manager of the magazine Harper's Bazaar, the ministers Thierry Breton, Jean-François Copé and Renaud Dutreil. The former French president Nicolas Sarkozy joined them for dinner in the castle of Yquem. Some photos were published in an issue of European Hello! magazine. One press release commented, "The world's hottest billionaire is finally off the market."

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• Vanidades
• Wedding blog
• Madame Figaro