Notre Dame fire: Louis Vuitton and Gucci owners donate £260m to rebuild cathedral

Businessman and art collector Bernard Arnault announced last night his family will donate £172.7m (€200m) towards the rebuilding of Notre Dame. The outstanding gesture was followed by another very generous donation by the hands of billionaire François-Henri Pinault, who said in a statement he will give France £86.3m (€100m) to help to reconstruct the cathedral.  

Mr Arnault is the chairman and chief executive officer of luxury brand Louis Vitton and in April 2018 became the richest person in fashion, while Mr Pinault is the president of Groupe Artémis, which owns the fine arts auction house Christie’s and controls, among other firms, Gucci and Bottega Veneta. 

He is believed to be worth more than £19bn. 

Mr Pinault, who is married to actress Salma Hayek, told French daily Le Figaro he hopes the money would help to “completely rebuild Notre Dame”. 

In the statement he said: “This tragedy strikes all the French and beyond all those who are attached to spiritual values. 

“Faced with such a tragedy, everyone wants to revive this jewel of our heritage as quickly as possible.  

“My father and I have decided to release from the funds of Artemis a sum of €100m to participate in the effort that will be necessary for the complete reconstruction of Notre Dame.” 

Mr Arnault’s family released a similar statement upon pledging to help to rebuild Notre Dame. 

They said: “The Arnault family and the LVMH group would like to show their solidarity at this time of national tragedy, and are joining up to help rebuild this extraordinary cathedral, which is a symbol of France, of its heritage and of French unity”.  

These donations come after French President Emmanuel Macron vowed to rebuild the medieval cathedral after a horrific fire engulfed it for more than nine hours. 

Notre Dame’s original wooden structure has been partially destroyed, and its roof and spiral collapsed under the eyes of thousands of people. 

The fire, which was declared under control almost nine hours after it started, is still burning the cathedral, and officials said it will take several days to completely extinguish it. 

French officials said it is still not known what caused the fire and the Government launched an investigation.  

But early reports linked the fire to the ongoing renovation works, which would make the fire the result of a human error.  

Mr Macron, who arrived on the grounds of Notre Dame less than three hours after the fire started, pledged to launch an international fundraising scheme for the reconstruction. 

Branding the blaze a “terrible tragedy”, he said: “We’ll rebuild this cathedral all together and it’s undoubtedly part of the French destiny and the project we’ll have for the coming years. 

“That’s what the French expect and because it’s what our history deserves.”

source: express.co.uk