Thus was born the fortune of Pinault, husband of Salma Hayek, who offered millions of euros to rebuild Notre Dame.

After the fire of the Notre-Dame Cathedral foundations in Paris Monday, the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, announced that he would organize "a national collection and well beyond our borders "to rebuild this iconic building.

Only a few hours had pbaded when the first donation was offered: it was the multimillionaire family Pinault, who promised the French that he would donate 100 million euros to give solemnity to the medieval cathedral.

With an estimated wealth in $ 37,000 million, the owners of Kering Group They have one of the biggest fortunes in France and in Europe. And the heir of this vast heritage is the man who, in 2009, asked the Mexican actress to marry Salma Hayek: François-Henri Pinault.

Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta or Alexander McQueen these are just a few of the brands that make up the luxury empire of the Pinault family. A fortune that did not exist 100 years ago and was born of nothing thanks to the ingenuity of a young farmer of modest origin, born in Brittany.

At 16 years old, the patriarch of the François Pinault familyhe left school, tired of his comrades, constantly making fun of him and his accent of peasant origin. After leaving school, he started working in the sawmill of his father.

In 1960, he founded his own company, a company specialized in sale of wood and building materials, that he called Kering. The profits he made with this activity allowed him to buy the Printemps chain of stores in 1992. A year later, he also acquired the Château Latour wine cellar.

The empire of the humble magnate grew up and soon lives in high-end industry an extraordinary opportunity. In 1999, he won most of Gucci's stock and his empire became one of the largest conglomerates of luxury goods in the world, adding other retail businesses. In 2013, he renamed his group Kering.

The professional French football team Stade Rennais, Christie's auction house, vineyards, a theater in Paris, Sportswear brand Puma, or a yacht company are other badets of the billionaire.

Currently, his fortune is estimated at 37 000 million dollars, which led him to position himself in 23rd position of the richest billionaires of the world, according to the list of Bloomberg, Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

François Pinault is now honorary chairman of his group, since it is his son, François-Henry Pinault, husband of Salma Hayek, who runs all his businesses. add estimated annual sales to 15,300 million of dollars.

The pinault's love for art and culture

Photos of Picbado, Mondrian or Koons they are part of the collection of more than 3,000 works of art owned by the Pinault family. Its foundation runs two museums in Venice and plans to open a third gallery in Paris.

This love of culture and art is not surprising that the Pinault were the first to offer 100 million euros in the international collection to restore. the cathedral of Notre Dame, symbol of the history of France.

"My father (François Pinault) and I decided to unblock (…) a sum of 100 million euros to participate in the complete reconstruction of Notre Dame."said François-Henri Pinault Monday night.