The World’s Richest Man, Bernard Arnault, Owns NFTs

Arnault has exhibited a tepid attitude toward the technology in the past, despite his sons showing considerably greater interest

article-image

Bernard Arnault | Source: "Bernard Arnault (6)" (CC license)

share

He owns 75 luxury brands including Louis Vuitton, Tiffany, and Tag Heuer, a luxury superyacht named Symphony, his own private island in the Bahamas and, uncharacteristically, a collection of NFTs.

Turns out, the world’s richest man, Bernard Arnault, has his own little nest egg of digital collectibles, despite past comments that seemed to show hesitancy regarding the technology.

In a conversation with his former advisor and chief digital officer of LVMH, Ian Rogers, the chair and CEO of the conglomerate of luxury brands revealed his own NFT collection.

Read more: NFT Investing Explained for Today’s Market

Arnault has reportedly exhibited a “tepid” attitude toward the technology in the past, despite his sons showing considerably greater interest. Alexandre Arnault once touted a jewel-laden Cryptopunk Tiffany pendant and brother Frédéric Arnault, CEO of Tag Heuer, showed off his enthusiasm for Web3 tech with NFT display functionality on the luxury watch brand. 

Arnault senior has remained relatively quiet on the topic, but in a recent Aarthi and Sriram podcast, Rogers, who has since become the chief experience officer at Ledger and is working on the soon-to-be-released Ledger Stax wallet, confides to the hosts his certainty about Arnault’s digital collection. 

The host asks, “You’re telling me Bernard Arnault has a wallet and maybe is buying some NFTs that we don’t know about?”

“There’s no question,” Rogers replies, “He has shown me, on his own volition, his OpenSea page.”

“Which means, he had to pull out his phone, find it and then take me through it. So, yes.”


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

  • Blockworks Daily: The newsletter that helps thousands of investors understand crypto and the markets, by Byron Gilliam.
  • Empire: Start your morning with the top news and analysis to inform your day in crypto.
  • Forward Guidance: Reporting and analysis on the growing intersection of crypto and macroeconomics, policy and finance.
  • 0xResearch: Alpha directly in your inbox. Market highlights, data, degen trade ideas, governance updates, token performance and more.
  • Lightspeed: Built for Solana investors, developers and community members. The latest from one of crypto’s hottest networks.
  • The Drop: For crypto collectors and traders, covering apps, games, memes and more.
Tags

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Unlocked by Template Presentation.jpg

Research

The Solana validator landscape has changed drastically over the past year. The chain now has 1,332 active validators with 380.9 million SOL staked (63.9% of supply) as of February 2025. Validator revenue had diversified beyond inflationary rewards (still making up 55%) to include Jito tips (30%), priority fees (24%), and base fees (<1%), in January, especially with the increased activity on Solana. Since then, issuance has become dominant again (76%), while Jito tips (14%), priority fees (9%), and base fees (less than 1%) have reduced in share of February 2025. There has been a strong shift towards non-inflationary revenue sources, which have become more central to validator economics as priority fees and off-chain blockspace auctions gain traction. Client diversity has also improved drastically, with implementations such as Agave, Jito-Solana, and Frankendancer already in use, and upcoming clients like Firedancer and Sig expected to further strengthen resilience and reduce reliance on a single codebase.

article-image

BWR analyst Carlos Gonzalez Campo explains the consequences of SOL inflation and transfers lost to “leaky buckets”

article-image

Empire co-host Santiago Santos makes the case that memecoins have actually helped push infra forward…just not in the way you think

article-image

A16z Crypto lists seven buckets for tokens and recommendations for how to regulate them, in a filing submitted to the SEC

article-image

New model aims to resolve trading inefficiencies with a single execution layer and market maker changes

article-image

Investors navigating BTC face short-term unpredictability, influence from other markets

article-image

The GENIUS Act aims to establish regulatory guidelines for stablecoins