For decades, France's LVMH has been the face of luxury for the wealthy who tote Louis Vuitton bags, don Christian Dior clothing, spritz Bulgari perfume and sip Veuve Clicquot Champagne .
This week, the world's dominant luxury group - home to 75 high-end brands across fashion, jewelry, watches and alcohol - will be the face of a global event for the masses: the Paris Olympics, with its billions of viewers around the planet.
With a major sponsorship role aimed at burnishing the image of the Games and the French capital, it's a new chapter in LVMH's specialty of selling exclusivity at a grand scale under its chair and CEO, Bernard Arnault.
Assembling and growing dozens of exclusive labels under one powerhouse roof has put Arnault, 75, at the very top of Forbes' list of the world's richest people. As recently as June 3, Forbes estimated his wealth at $207 billion, narrowly ahead of Tesla's Elon Musk and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. With ever-shifting stock-market prices, the three men often trade places (according to Forbes' real-time billionaires list on Tuesday, Arnault and his family are currently No. 3).
LVMH's cosmetics brand Sephora sponsored the Olympic torch relay . Berluti designed France's opening ceremony uniforms. Jeweler Chaumet crafted the Olympic medals. Those will rest in cases designed by Louis Vuitton, whose headquarters at 2 Rue Pont Neuf will be hard to miss as the opening ceremony parade floats by on the Seine River.
