Chanel

Bernard Arnault turned a construction firm into the LVMH empire

Sam tells how a 20-something Bernard Arnault convinced his wealthy father to sell their construction business (sold for ~$20M in the '60s) to buy luxury brands, starting with Chanel for a few million, eventually building the world's largest luxury group.

“he convinced his father when this guy Bernard was in his 20s and he goes, "Dad, we got to sell our construction business and buy luxury goods because when I went to New York, they all knew what Chanel was, but that's not even a big company." And so he goes, let's fucking buy Chanel.”