France’s billionaire Pinault clan is planning to pare debt and shun large deals after a surge in borrowing and decline in payouts from companies it owns.
The luxury-good family’s investment firm, Artemis, has seen debt soar about 40 per cent over historic levels to roughly €7.1 billion ($13.1 billion), according to a person familiar with its operations, who said its financing costs can still be comfortably met with dividends from investments. The person, who asked not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter, didn’t give more details on how it plans to cut debt.
The family’s scion Francois-Henri Pinault is married to A-lister Salma Hayek. Credit: Getty Images
The firm’s retreat follows a prolonged period of growth for the family, whose patriarch, Francois Pinault, 89, founded what would become Kering more than six decades ago and went on to buy auction house Christie’s International, a football club, vineyards, media outlets, a cruise company and art. More recently, they took a stake in Hollywood talent manager Creative Artists Agency, while Kering spent billions on commercial real estate, fragrance maker Creed and 30 per cent of fashion label Valentino.
In a major shift for the family, Pinault’s 63-year-old son Francois-Henri Pinault, who is married to Hollywood A-lister Salma Hayek, relinquished his role earlier this month as Kering CEO after two decades at the helm. While he’s staying on as chairman, FHP as he’s known, is moving back to Paris from London and is expected to focus more on Artemis.
The family’s fortunes have sputtered, with their net worth declining by more than half in the past four years, in part because of failed turnaround attempts at Gucci, owned by Kering. The family office’s total earnings from payouts from its portfolio of assets are expected to drop by about 40 per cent this year to roughly €520 million, according to the person.
Artemis’ holdings have a net asset value of around €28 billion, or about four times its own debt, according to the person familiar. Kering SA also has about €10 billion of borrowings, while CAA has about €2 billion, the person said.
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Artemis plans to avoid large acquisitions on the scale of CAA, at least in the near future, the person said. The firm bought a 53 per cent stake in CAA in 2023 for about $US3.5 billion in a bet on the US and the talent-management industry. That holding is now up to 54.2 per cent.
Artemis’ debt load makes the vehicle relatively unusual among peers around the world, according to Citigroup’s 2025 Global Family Office Report. Among the 346 structures surveyed by the bank, half used no leverage at all and only 8 per cent of respondents had more than 30 per cent.
