Henri Serge Racamier (June 25, 1912 – March 29, 2003) was a French industrialist and businessman. He was primarily known for co-founding the luxury conglomerate

LVMH LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE (), commonly known as LVMH, is a French multinational holding company and conglomerate that specializes in luxury goods and has its headquarters in Paris, France. The company was formed in 1987 through the ...

and turning

Louis Vuitton Louis Vuitton Malletier SAS, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French Luxury goods, luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton (designer), Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its products, ...

into an internationally recognized brand with billions of dollars in sales.

Life

Racamier was born in Pont-de-Roide-Vermondans in the

Franche-Comté Franche-Comté (, ; ; Frainc-Comtou dialect, Frainc-Comtou: ''Fraintche-Comtè''; ; also ; ; all ) is a cultural and Provinces of France, historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of France, departments of Doub ...

region of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. His youngest brother was psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Paul-Claude Racamier. He was the son of an industrialist. After acquiring a business degree at

HEC Paris HEC Paris () is a business school and ''grande école'' located in Jouy-en-Josas, a southwestern outer suburb of Paris, France. It offers Bachelor, MiM, MSc in International Finance, MBA, EMBA, executive education, professional developm ...

, he started his career in the steel industry as he began to work for the

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French automobile brand owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was established in 1810, making it the oldest car company in the world. On 20 November 1858, Émile Peugeot applie ...

automotive factories in 1936. In 1946, he founded his own company, ''Stinox'', which he sold to Thyssen in 1977. With the assets gained through the sale, he took over the reins at

the same year. He began to change the business model substantially, and turned the then small leather goods shops, into an international network of company operated shops worldwide to sell the merchandise. In order to make the brand notable on an international scale, he started to sponsor top-of-the-range sporting events and created a new marketing strategy which would lead the brand to the top and be well known worldwide. In 1984, he took Louis Vuitton public at the stock exchange. In 1987, he merged Moet Hennessy and Louis Vuitton creating

. Between 1987 and 1990 he and Alain Chevalier, the other co-founder of the luxury group conducted an open war against

Bernard Arnault Bernard Jean Étienne Arnault (; born 5 March 1949) is a French businessman, investor, and art collector. He is the founder, chairman and CEO of LVMH, the world's largest luxury goods company. Arnault is one of the richest individuals in the ...

who was taking over power; Arnault was successful and ejected Racamier from the company board by 1990. After being forced out of LVMH, Racamier, used a family holding company ''Orcofi'', to join the French banking group Paribas and

L'Oréal L'Oréal S.A. () is a French multinational personal care corporation registered in Paris

in order to take part in a M&A deal and acquire the fashion house Lanvin. It was thought by branch insiders that he would form another competitor to LVMH, instead he turned to sailing and music. He was a major patron and philanthropist to the

Opéra National de Paris The Paris Opera ( ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be kn ...

. Racamier was also a noted sponsor of international sailing competitions and in 2019 was posthumously inducted into the

America's Cup Hall of Fame The America's Cup Hall of Fame, located at the Herreshoff Marine Museum of Bristol, Rhode Island, USA, honors individuals for outstanding achievement in the America's Cup sailing competition. Candidates eligible for consideration include skippers ...

Family

In 1943, he married Odile Madeleine Andrée (née Vuitton; 1921–2019), a great-granddaughter of the company founder

. They had two daughters, Caroline Bentz (née Racamier) and Laurence Fontaine (née Racamier).

References

French industrialists HEC Paris alumni 1912 births 2003 deaths LVMH {{France-business-bio-stub