“Blackmail like that”, “Let him show his patriotism”… clash of big bosses between Bernard Arnault and Michel-Edouard Leclerc

Following Bernard Arnault's comments in recent days regarding the surtax on businesses, the chairman of the strategic committee of E.Leclerc centers, Michel-Edouard Leclerc, responded to him on social networks. Since then, the exchanges have been flying.

It's a clash of big shots. This Friday, January 31, the CEO of LVMH responded to Michel-Edouard Leclerc, who accused him of “blackmailing” , following his statements made a few days ago denouncing the future surtax on large companies.

“I never said that we were going to relocate the LVMH group” , declared its CEO Bernard Arnault on Friday on the social network X, after being accused by Michel-Edouard Leclerc of “blackmailing”.

“It is precisely because I love France and want our country to continue to remain competitive that I wanted to warn about measures that seem to me to be counterproductive in every way”, adds Bernard Arnault, referring to the corporate tax surcharge planned in the 2025 budget.

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On Tuesday, on the sidelines of the presentation of LVMH's annual results, he denounced this surcharge – supposed to target large companies and bring in 8 billion euros to the State – as a “Made in France tax” which “encourages relocation” . “What I said is that the tax measures being considered are an incentive for offshoring, since they tax Made in France products but not offshoring French companies”, he insists on X, recalling that LVMH directly and indirectly employs nearly 200,000 people in France, making it “the leading private recruiter in France”.

“Blackmail”

On Friday morning, the chairman of the strategic committee of the E.Leclerc centers, Michel-Edouard Leclerc, had mentioned “blackmail” : “it's not necessarily positively impactful to have one of the richest men in France say: if it doesn't work, I'll leave the country”, adding that no boss of E.Leclerc stores would do “blackmail like that”.

Bernard Arnault scathingly responded to him on X: “As for Mr. Leclerc, since he seems to want to defend French SMEs, I advise him to sell more French products in his supermarkets and to stop squeezing French suppliers, at the risk of putting them in difficulty, by trying to obtain ever lower prices from them.”

“Let him show it this way his patriotism, rather than criticizing a group that makes France shine throughout the world with its artisans and suppliers, by helping them to develop in our country”, launched the billionaire, who heads the world number one in luxury.