Even Billionaires Like Saving $500 Million On Diamonds
France’s luxury mogul Bernard Arnault has gone to extraordinary lengths to avoid overpaying for Tiffany’s.
Do we have a deal?
Photographer: Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto
Most of us would probably swallow nervously at the thought of splashing several thousand dollars on a diamond ring in the current environment. It looks particularly extreme, though, to see Bernard Arnault — the fifth-richest person in the world — go to such extraordinary lengths to renegotiate his $16 billion acquisition of Tiffany & Co. for what may well end up being a 2.6% price cut. But hey, maybe that’s why he’s a billionaire.
After months of legal wrangling over Arnault’s attempts to back out of the deal, which was struck in happier pre-pandemic times, the billionaire’s conglomerate LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE is said to be approaching a settlement with Tiffany. According to Bloomberg News, Tiffany’s board is said to have approved a price of $131.50 per share, a smidge lower than the initial price of $135, or a saving of about $425 million in total.