It's official: The cruise world has a new richest man
It's official: The cruise world's new richest person is Francois Pinault.
The self-made French mogul's holding company has completed its acquisition of small-ship line Ponant from private equity firm Bridgepoint, the line announced on Friday.
The deal was done through the Pinault family's Groupe Artemis, which also owns auction house Christie's and controls the company behind such fashion brands as Gucci and Saint-Laurent. Pinault's son, Francois-Henri Pinault, serves as the company's chairman.
The Pinault family is joining an ever-growing field of billionaires playing in the cruise space. Miami billionaire Micky Arison long has held a significant stake in cruise giant Carnival Corp., which his family founded with one ship in 1972. Joining him in recent years has been billionaire financier Leon Black, who controls a private equity firm that took a large stake in Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, and Colorado billionaire Philip Anschutz, who took control of small-ship line Windstar through a holding company.
New cruise ships for 2015: Ponant's Le Lyrial
Other billionaires with big stakes in the cruise business include the many members of the Pritzker family of Chicago who collectively own a sizable chunk of Royal Caribbean. British billionaire Richard Branson also is planning a big move into cruising through his Virgin brand starting in 2020.
Pinault is dethroning Anschutz, who in turn dethroned Arison, as the cruise world's richest person. Forbes this year ranked Pinault and his family at No. 65 of its list of the world's richest people with an estimated net worth of $14.9 billion. Anschutz is ranked at No. 104 with an estimated $11.8 billion, while Arison comes in at No. 191 with an estimated $7.1 billion.
Pinault's son, Francois-Henri Pinault, is married to well-known actress Salma Hayek, raising the prospect that the star of the critically-acclaimed Frida soon could be christening a cruise ship. There's a long tradition of the wives of cruise company owners christening vessels. Just last year, Anschutz' wife Nancy christened Windstar's new Star Pride, and Arison's wife Madeleine has christened several Carnival Corp.-owned ships.
Founded in 1998, Ponant operates four upscale vessels carrying 224 to 264 passengers, including the just-unveiled Le Lyrial, as well as a 64-passenger sailing ship.
For a peek inside the new Le Lyrial, click through through the carousel below.
