BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : SEPTEMBER 27, 1999 ISSUE
COVER STORY -- E.BIZ -- THE E.BIZ 25 Bernard Arnault BERNARD ARNAULT LVMH MOET HENNESSY LOUIS VUITTON Position: Chairman Contribution: Founder of Europ@web, and leading bankroller of European Web ventures--about 30 so far, either European startups or U.S. companies expanding there. Ambition: To invest more than $500 million in e-commerce startups over the next several years in areas such as financial services and retailing. A Q&A with Bernard Arnault is available at ebiz.businessweek.com When the French corporate raider Bernard Arnault lost a bitter fight to acquire Gucci early this year, some people wondered whether he had any more tricks up his impeccably tailored sleeve. Indeed he did. Arnault, the chairman of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMHY), is becoming Europe's largest cyberbusiness bankroller--seeding the Continent for the coming explosion of e-commerce. With a plan to pump more than $500 million into Internet ventures in Europe, Arnault is staking a large claim in a market that seems to be on the verge of taking off. ''In the U.S., the Internet developed in several stages--first the technical stage, then the portals, and then e-commerce,'' says Arnault. ''In Europe, this is all going to happen at the same time.'' If it turns out that way, European entrepreneurs will owe a debt of gratitude to Arnault. He has invested in about 30 startups, including the auction site icollector.com and the online retailer boo.com. He's also backing U.S. startups such as E-Loan Inc. (EELN) to help them with their European expansions. Arnault, 50, says the Web will never replace the sensory pleasure of shopping in one of his luxury boutiques. Still, he's covering his bets. In October, LVMH's Sephora cosmetics chain is opening an enormous store in New York's Rockefeller Center. The same day, Arnault is launching a Web site for Sephora. With that brand of fancy footwork, Arnault could in short order move from being a leading financier of e-commerce to becoming a leading practitioner of it. By Carol Matlack _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP					RELATED ITEMS The e.biz 25: Masters of the Web Universe COVER IMAGE: The e.biz 25 Commentary: The Great Equalizer? Not by a Long Shot TABLE: Who's Lagging in the Net Age [empire builders] Jeffrey P. Bezos AMAZON.COM INC. Stephen M. Case AMERICA ONLINE INC. Timothy A. Koogle YAHOO! INC. [the innovators] Louis H. Borders WEBVAN GROUP INC. Jay S. Walker PRICELINE.COM Margaret C. Whitman EBAY INC. Glen Meakem FREE MARKETS ONLINE INC. James H. Clark MYCFO INC. Christos M. Cotsakos E*TRADE GROUP INC. [bankrollers] Masayoshi Son SOFTBANK CORP., JAPAN Robert C. Kagle BENCHMARK CAPITAL Lawton W. Fitt GOLDMAN SACHS & CO. L. John Doerr KLEINER PERKINS CAUFIELD & BYERS   Bernard Arnault LVMH MOET HENNESSY LOUIS VUITTON   [the visionaries] Mary G. Meeker MORGAN STANLEY DEAN WITTER John Hagel III MCKINSEY & CO. William Joy SUN MICROSYSTEMS [the architects] Louis V. Gerstner Jr. IBM CORP. Pehong Chen BROADVISION INC. David C. Peterschmidt INKTOMI INC. Kevin J. O'Connor DOUBLECLICK Ellen M. Hancock EXODUS COMMUNICATIONS [the pace setters] David S. Pottruck CHARLES SCHWAB CORP. John T. Chambers CISCO SYSTEMS Michael S. Dell DELL COMPUTER INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online

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