François-Henri Pinault, Kering Chairman Who Turned a Retail Group Into a Luxury House

François-Henri Pinault is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Kering, the Paris-based luxury group that owns Gucci, Saint Laurent and Bottega Veneta. He led the company as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for twenty years, from 2005 until September 2025.

During that time he turned a retail group known as Pinault-Printemps-Redoute into a group focused only on luxury. In 2025 he handed the chief executive role to Luca de Meo and kept the chairmanship.

Education

Pinault is a graduate of HEC Paris, the French business school, according to his biography in the Kering 2025 Universal Registration Document.

Career

Pinault joined the Pinault group in 1987. He held senior posts in several of its operating subsidiaries before he became a member of its Management Board.

In 2000 he was named Deputy Chief Executive of PPR, the company that later became Kering, with responsibility for its digital strategy. He has sat on the Kering board since 17 January 2001.

In 2003 he became Chairman of Artemis, the company that is Kering’s core shareholder. Two years later, in 2005, Pinault-Printemps-Redoute changed its name to PPR and he was appointed its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

The group he took over still ran large retail chains. Kering’s own history lists the department stores of Printemps, the furniture chain Conforama, the mail order business La Redoute and the books and electronics retailer Fnac among its holdings at the time.

Over the next decade the group sold or listed those businesses one by one. Printemps went in two steps in 2006 and 2007, Conforama was sold in 2011, Fnac was listed on the Paris stock exchange in 2013 and La Redoute was sold in 2014.

In 2013 the group changed its name from PPR to Kering. The same year it bought majority stakes in the Chinese jewellery brand Qeelin and the Italian jewellery group Pomellato.

In 2018 Kering distributed its PUMA shares to its own shareholders, which left it as a group devoted to luxury. Since then the company has described itself as a pure player in the sector.

In 2023 Pinault began a review of how the group should be governed. On 16 June 2025 the board approved the separation of the roles of chairman and chief executive and named Luca de Meo, then head of Renault Group, as Chief Executive Officer.

De Meo took office on 15 September 2025, after shareholders approved his appointment as a director at a meeting on 9 September. Pinault has served as Chairman of the Board since that date.

On 16 April 2026, at a Capital Markets Day, de Meo presented ReconKering, the new strategic plan for the group. In the 2025 annual document, Pinault wrote that the plan plays to the strengths of houses with unique identities.

Kering’s houses today include Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, McQueen, Brioni, Boucheron, Pomellato, Dodo, Qeelin and Ginori 1735, alongside Kering Eyewear.

Current Roles

• Chairman of the Board of Directors, Kering (since 15 September 2025)
• Member of the Sustainability Committee of the Kering board
• Chairman of the Kering Foundation, which works to combat violence against women
• Chairman, Artemis SAS, Kering’s core shareholder
• Director, Creative Artists Agency LLC (since September 2023)

Key Achievements

From retail group to luxury group

When Pinault became chief executive in 2005, PPR was still one of Europe’s large retail groups. By 2018, after a run of sales and listings, Kering owned only luxury houses.

• 2006 and 2007: sale of Printemps
• 2011: sale of Conforama
• 2013: listing of Fnac and change of name to Kering
• 2014: sale of La Redoute
• 2018: distribution of PUMA shares to shareholders

Building a portfolio of houses

The group added a series of brands under his leadership. It bought the Italian tailor Brioni in 2012, watchmaker Ulysse Nardin in 2014 and the Danish eyewear brand Lindberg in 2021.

In 2022 it acquired the American eyewear brand Maui Jim. In 2023 it bought a 30% stake in the Italian house Valentino and the fragrance house Creed, and it set up Kering Beaute.

A beauty deal with L’Oreal

In 2025 Kering agreed a partnership with L’Oreal in beauty and wellness that included the sale of Kering Beaute. The deal, valued at 4 billion euros, closed on 31 March 2026.

It was the second time the group sold beauty assets to L’Oreal, the French cosmetics company controlled by the family of Françoise Bettencourt Meyers. In 2008, PPR sold YSL Beaute to the same buyer.

Sustainability and The Fashion Pact

In 2015 Kering published its first Environmental Profit and Loss account at group level, a method that puts a value on environmental impact. In 2019 Pinault brought fashion and textile companies together in The Fashion Pact, which aims to cut the industry’s environmental impact.

Kering also became, in 2024, the first company to adopt science-based targets for nature covering land and freshwater, according to its 2025 annual document.

Kering Generation Awards in Saudi Arabia

Kering’s start-up competition, the Kering Generation Awards, was extended in 2024 to new regions that included Saudi Arabia, in partnership with the Saudi Fashion Commission. The first winners in the Kingdom received their awards in 2025.

Our report on Saudi Arabia’s fashion and retail sector quotes the commission’s chief executive on how the industry has grown.

The Company in Numbers

• Revenue: 14.7 billion euros, down 13% as reported (2025)
• Recurring operating income: 1.6 billion euros (2025)
• Gucci revenue: 6.0 billion euros (2025)
• Saint Laurent revenue: 2.6 billion euros (2025)
• Employees: 43,731 (end of 2025)
• Directly operated stores: 1,719 (end of 2025)

Kering’s results have weakened in recent years, led by a fall in sales at Gucci, its largest house. Revenue was 16.9 billion euros in 2024 on a restated basis, compared with 14.7 billion euros in 2025.

Kering competes with LVMH, the group run by Bernard Arnault, and with independent houses such as Hermès and Chanel.

In Their Own Words

Announcing his successor as chief executive on 16 June 2025, Pinault said: “It is with complete confidence that I am handing over the leadership of Kering and our teams to Luca.”

In the same statement he added: “I will of course be at his side to accompany him in this new phase, as Chairman of the Board of Kering.”

Read also: Bernard Arnault: Biography, Companies, and Career Journey