François Pinault

François Pinault General Information

Biography

Mr. François Pinault is the Founder and serves as Managing Partner of Groupe Artemis. He is also an Angel Investor. He is the major shareholder and Honorary Chairman of the retail company Kering. He is the Owner of Christie's. He is the owner of fashion brands like Gucci, Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen, and Yves Saint Laurent. He started his first business in the timber trade in 1963 in Rennes. In 1988, he floated Pinault on the stock exchange and progressively steered the company's business towards specialized retail. In 1992, he founded Artémis, designed as a vehicle to invest in high-growth potential companies in completely different sectors from those of Pinault-Printemps-Redoute. PPR entered the luxury market in 1999 when it acquired an equity interest in the Gucci Group. In 2003, he handed over the reins of his company to his son. Then he subsequently became Chairman of Artémis. He is one of the top contemporary art collectors in the world. In order to share some of his collection with the public, he set up two unique exhibition sites in Venice (Italy), the Palazzo Grassi and the Punta Della Dogana.