Bernard Arnault, owner of Louis Vuitton and other brands, is fleeing France. Photo: LV
It was inevitable wasn't it?
This Friday France's Socialist government repeated that they would go ahead with spending cuts and massive tax reformes and reiterated that they would tax the rich by 75 percent.
So what does the well-to-do do? Move. Naturally.
Less than 24 hours after Hollande assured France he would tax the rich at ludicrous rates, it became known that France's richest man, Bernard Arnault, said he was moving to Belgium, according to Le Monde.
Thus France's richest man is Belgium's richest man.
The owner and boss of luxury conglomerate LVMH had a fixed salary of 10.7 million euros last year, plus bonus and options.
Arnault is the 4th richest man in the world (ranked by Forbes) with a estimated net worth of 41 billion dollars.
Considering that hedge funds are now betting heavily on a French downfall, this might add some fuel to the fire. If France scares away all the capital, how will it ever rebound?