Bernard Arnault to receive honorary knighthood

Arnault, the French chairman and CEO of luxury conglomerate LVMH, which owns the likes of Marc Jacobs, Céline, Givenchy and Louis Vuitton, will be made an honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for services to business and the wider community in the U.K., reports WWD .

The 63-year-old, who is also the chairman of Christian Dior, will receive the award from Sir Peter Ricketts, the British ambassador to France, at the British Embassy in Paris, although it is not yet known when.

READ: LVMH boss Bernard Arnault set to sue French newspaper

Other well-known figures who have received honorary knighthoods include Steven Spielberg and Bill Gates.

The honour comes less than a month after Arnault - who is Europe's richest man - launched legal proceedings against a French newspaper for calling him a "rich idiot" on its front page. The headline came after it was revealed that Arnault had applied for dual French-Belgian citizenship in what was assumed to be a bid to avoid the 75 per cent supertax France's new Socialist government is set to place on its top earners.

Arnault strenuously denied that this was the reason behind his application, saying that although he has applied dual citizenship it is for "personal reasons" and that he will remain a tax resident in France. He is seeking between €15,000 and €20,000 for public insult in the case which is due to go to court on October 4, 2013.

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