PARIS — Antoine Bernheim, the banker known as the godfather of French capitalism, died in Paris on Tuesday at the age of 87.
Bernard Arnault, chairman and chief executive officer of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, expressed his “profound sadness” at losing a friend and business partner of close to three decades.
“During this time, I was able to admire his qualities as a strategist, his powers of analysis and his brilliant intuition. With his exceptional charisma, Antoine Bernheim shaped the European economy,” Arnault stated.
The LVMH chief described Bernheim as “a great humanist” with a legendary line in self-deprecating humor.
Having started his career in the Fifties alongside the Wertheimer family, Bernheim was a senior partner at investment bank Lazard Frères & Cie from 1967 to 2000, helping to shape the empires of France’s most powerful industrialists, among them Arnault, François Pinault and Vincent Bolloré.
He held top positions in dozens of firms, including Italian insurer Generali, where he served as chairman from 1995 to 1999, and from 2002 to 2010. Until recently, Bernheim held several posts within LVMH, including that of vice chairman of the board of directors.
Born in Paris in 1924, Bernheim lost both his parents during World War Two, when they were deported to Auschwitz.
French Banker Antoine Bernheim Dies at 87
Bernheim was a key aide to leading French industrialists including Bernard Arnault and François Pinault.