Albert Frère

"Bernard Arnault flies to his home in the Parcs de Saint-Tropez estate, where he rubs shoulders with François Dalle, the former CEO of L'Oréal, who is about to make a name for himself, personally, in Georges Pébereau's raid against Société Générale, and Albert Frère, a powerful Belgian industrialist turned finance mogul at the head of Bruxelles-Lambert bank, who will become his most loyal supporter. And his only friend in business."

"This is what happened with Yves Saint Laurent. Pinault had been tempted by luxury diversification for a long time, and the Sanofi Beauté file had been presented to him. After studying it in 1998, he decides not to pursue it, deeming the price too high and, most importantly, lacking the right person to turn the business around. After spending a day at sea in Saint-Tropez on a boat rented by Arnault in July, Pinault makes his decision. He calls the boss of LVMH: "I have decided not to pursue it. I don't have the right people, but you do. I wanted to inform you, Bernard, so that you can do what you want." "François, thank you for letting me know," Arnault responds. This is how LVMH was able to conduct its exclusive negotiation with Sanofi, only to break it off at the last moment. The same thing happened with Château Cheval-Blanc. This first-classed growth of Bordeaux is for sale. All the major potential buyers have, of course, been contacted: Arnault, who controls Château-d'Yquem, Pinault, who owns Château-Latour, as well as Albert Frère, the biggest Belgian fortune, Liliane Bettencourt,"

"François Pinault personally took care of setting his own table and that of his wife, Maryvonne. At his table, there were, of course, the friendly presidential couple, Jacques and Bernadette, but also some of his old Breton friends, as well as Ambroise Roux and... Bernard and Hélène Arnault. "The godfather and the peer, the only ones in this assembly who, perhaps along with Albert Frère, he considers capable of competing with him," writes Nazanine Ravaï in La République des vanités. François Pinault and Bernard Arnault "follow each other's every move," she writes."

"The Arnaults, Bollorés, Bouygues, Lagardères, Dassaults, Pinaults, the Agnellis in Italy, Albert Frère in Belgium, or the Desmarais in Canada..."

"Every summer, the magazine Le Point inevitably maps out the topography of this small pocket of billionaires, between the Parks of Saint-Tropez, where the Belgian Albert Frère rubs shoulders with Bernard Arnault and Mohammed Al-Fayed, and the Bay of Canebiers, where Vincent Bolloré's villa is adjacent to that of the widow of Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan. A little further away, Carla Bruni's family "camp" at the extreme tip of Cap Negre, at the end of Cavaliere Beach, well sheltered from prying eyes, halfway between Saint-Tropez and Fort de Brégançon. Nevertheless, Vincent Bolloré remains a special case in Antoine Bernheim's hunting ground."