Patricia Barbizet

"With François Pinault, the problem will not arise in the same terms since the French billionaire does not exist in the luxury industry. It is Joseph Perrella, former head of Wasserstein-Perrella bank, who first thinks of him and calls him from New York on February 23. As part of a European tour of potential white knights, Perrella arranges a meeting in early March at the Artémis headquarters on Boulevard de La Tour-Maubourg. Pinault asks Patricia Barbizet, CEO of his personal holding company, to attend the meeting. On these big occasions, the Breton boss relies on his intuition. He needs to feel Patricia's reactions, who he will later appoint as the chair of the supervisory board of PPR, because she is an intelligent, simple, and intuitive woman with a natural propensity to simplify problems rather than complicate them."

"says: I spoke with Dehecq. We're in agreement. Your business interests me. Excellent. When would you like to begin negotiations, and with whom? And what is your starting position? I won't negotiate the price, payment terms, or other details. You just need to take the sale protocol signed with LVMH before its withdrawal and change the names. I have only one condition: the deal must be finalized and signed before 9 a.m. tomorrow. The banker is astonished: But that's not possible: it's 5 o'clock in the afternoon! I'm sorry, but this condition is non-negotiable. Change the names? Nothing is ever that simple. The Lazard team will work through the night, along with lawyers from both parties who will nibble on lukewarm pizzas. Patricia Barbizet will go to sleep from 3 a.m. to 5 a.m. during the drafting of the agreement proposal, which she will come back to discuss and then validate."