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Article: Pinault's dream factory. (Paris).(Francois Pinault)
- Article from:
- Europe
- Article date:
- October 1, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Delegation of the European Commission. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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When you are as rich as Francois Pinault, it takes almost as much audacity and imagination to find creative ways of disposing of some of your fortune as it did to amass it. Pinault, whose retail empire counts the chic Printemps department stores, La Redoute consumer catalogues, and the leading audio-video chain FNAC among his assets, also controls the auction house Christie's, which, with Sotheby's, covers the lion's share of the world's art markets. His billions also include interests in Chateau Latour, one of the top-five Bordeaux wine estates, and in the fashion house Gucci.
Critics sniped that both of the latter acquisitions lacked originality, mirroring as ...