By Stacy Meichtry and Nick Kostov
PARIS -- Bernard Arnault values discretion. The soft-spoken luxury titan doesn't have a personal account on X, let alone a frenetic one like fellow billionaire Elon Musk. He rarely sits down for media interviews. He employs an array of spin doctors and security personnel to keep the public at a safe distance.
This week, however, Arnault found himself under the klieg lights when he was called to the witness stand in the trial of Bernard Squarcini, the Corsican spymaster known as "the Shark" who led the DCRI, France's domestic intelligence service, before going to work for Arnault's luxury conglomerate LVMH.
The court proceedings have laid bare the intelligence apparatus that Squarcini allegedly erected around his former boss, including cloak-and-dagger intrigues that involved high-profile journalists and luxury rival Hermès. Prosecutors have charged Squarcini with influence peddling, misuse of public funds and compromising national-security information. Prosecutors are seeking a four-year suspended prison sentence for Squarcini.
Arnault and his company aren't on trial, and he hasn't been accused of any wrongdoing. LVMH, owner of Louis Vuitton, Dior and dozens of other luxury brands, reached a 10 million euro, equivalent to $10.6 million, settlement with the French state that excluded the company from the case.
Still, the trial has forced Arnault into a rare public confrontation with some of his fiercest opponents. Two versions of France have collided in the courtroom: the rarefied world of polished catwalks and perfumed salons embodied by Arnault and that of la France profonde, the economically distressed countryside of northern France that was once the nation's industrial heartland.
Chief among Arnault's opponents is François Ruffin, a leftist French lawmaker who rose to fame as a documentary-making provocateur in the mold of Michael Moore. Ruffin and his acolytes have long accused Arnault of gutting the region's economy by carrying out job cuts and factory closures. Ruffin made the award-winning documentary "Thanks, Boss!" about the plight of laid-off workers, chronicling Ruffin's largely unsuccessful effort to confront Arnault over the job cuts at LVMH's shareholder meetings.
Prosecutors allege Squarcini oversaw a system of surveillance from 2013 to 2016 in an effort to track Ruffin and his team of journalists at the activist newspaper Fakir. Contractors working under Squarcini allegedly sifted through the trash of Ruffin's team, followed them and collected their personal data, including home addresses, phone numbers and political affiliations. Prosecutors allege the contractors managed to place two moles inside Fakir.
"I was absolutely unaware of this," Arnault testified, at one point telling the crowded courtroom that he was a "partisan of press freedom."
Arnault told the court that he fully delegated all security-related matters to his deputy, Pierre Godé, who died in 2018. Arnault testified that it was Godé who had hired Squarcini, adding that Arnault didn't raise any objections when told about the hire.
Squarcini has denied any wrongdoing, testifying that protecting Arnault and LVMH was important for France's national interest. Squarcini testified that his contractors led him to believe that he was getting intelligence from genuine members of Fakir's staff -- not planted moles.
For a billionaire who prefers to remain above the fray, the experience of taking the stand in a French courtroom -- where a gamut of judges, prosecutors and lawyers for injured parties take turns interrogating the witness -- appeared unsettling at times.
Arnault, 75, entered the courtroom Wednesday in a dapper navy blue suit and tie, standing before a panel of judges for a grilling that lasted 2 1/2 hours. At first Arnault's demeanor was calm and collected, with one hand resting on the stand and the other in his pocket, as he delivered quips to the courtroom.
"Have you ever met Mr. Ruffin in a tête-à-tête to have a discussion," the lead judge asked Arnault.
"No," Arnault said.
"He's right there," the judge said, referring to Ruffin who was seated behind the billionaire.
"Hello, Mr. Arnault!" Ruffin called out. "How many times have I asked to meet you?"
"I would be honored to invite you to coffee, perhaps with a serving of fries," Arnault said, fries being a specialty of northern France. "We could talk cinema. I could talk a bit about the economy, how a big company works, maybe provide a bit of advice."
When asked if he had seen Ruffin's documentary, Arnault said he found the film "rather funny," adding that Ruffin's work was "certainly better in terms of cinematography than politics."
When the judge asked Arnault what he thought of a wiretapped conversation, in which Godé suggests Squarcini find a way to "infiltrate" Fakir, Arnault responded: "That's not for me to judge."
And when the judge asked Arnault about a wiretap of his chief of staff telling Squarcini that Arnault was "very stressed" about what Ruffin and Fakir might attempt during a shareholder meeting, Arnault replied: "I'm rarely stressed. With everything there is to manage, one can't be easily stressed out."
Arnault's sang-froid, however, began to dissipate once Ruffin's lawyer, Benjamin Sarfati, took his turn asking questions. Sarfati began to ask Arnault about the closure of a clothing factory in northern France in 2007, when Arnault cut him off.
"Let me stop you there," Arnault said, noting that the factory in question produced clothing for LVMH's Kenzo fashion house. "You're talking about a hundred or so jobs. Since then and now I've created how many jobs? I said it before...190,000. Does that work for you? Does that work for Mr. Ruffin? Or do we have to continue with this idiocy?"
Sarfati asked if Arnault could imagine that Ruffin was sincere in his efforts to help laid off workers. The workers' lives were destroyed, Sarfati said, and they were left in "deserted territories" of "abandoned and demolished factories."
"They live in agony with alcoholism, suicides, with families that implode," Sarfati said.
Arnault bristled, asking whether Ruffin had done anything for the French economy since becoming a lawmaker. "He prefers to work on his film," Arnault said. "Let's stop joking. Mr. Ruffin is mainly here to try to pull out of his political descent."
Ruffin was a "fervent patriot," Sarfati replied. "You misunderstand what drives him." The lawyer then launched into a monologue, asserting that all Ruffin ever wanted was for Arnault to give him and the laid-off workers the time of day.
Arnault shot back: "My advice to Mr. Ruffin is for him to find a lawyer who's a little more succinct."
Write to Stacy Meichtry at Stacy.Meichtry@wsj.com and Nick Kostov at nick.kostov@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 29, 2024 11:31 ET (16:31 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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