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When Salma Hayek said “I do” to François-Henri Pinault, she “married the right guy.”
That’s what the “Frida” star had to say of her partner in 2017, per People, more than a decade after she first met the French businessman.
But what was it that made him the perfect match for her?
Read all about the billionaire who Hayek considers a priceless part of her life.
What does François-Henri Pinault do?
Even those who’ve never heard of Pinault have likely heard of the high-profile labels owned by the corporation he runs.
Pinault is the president and CEO of Kering, a multinational luxury group founded by his father, François Pinault, in 1963.
The business, which started out as a wood and building materials company, now owns Gucci, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Alexander McQueen, Saint Laurent and other elite fashion brands.
Pinault also serves as chairman of the Kering Foundation, a women’s rights and dignity endeavor financed by Kering, as well as managing partner of Artémis, a holding company founded by his father in 1992.
How did Salma Hayek and François-Henri Pinault meet?
Hayek and Pinault met in 2006 during a party at Venice’s Palazzo Grassi, an 18th century palace owned by Pinault’s family, according to People. However, Hayek has remained tight-lipped when it comes to further details.
“I’m not going to tell you,” she said when asked about their first meeting during a 2019 interview with Town & Country. “It’s such a romantic, amazing story, but it is mine. I don’t want to vulgarize it by making it into a story to make myself interesting.”
Salma Hayek and François-Henri Pinault had more than one ceremony
Hayek and Pinault swapped vows in a Paris courthouse on Valentine’s Day in 2009 — and then again two months later, in a larger ceremony held in Venice.
Their union marked the second marriage for Pinault and the first for his Hollywood bride, who later said she had to be encouraged to walk down the aisle at all.
“I didn’t even know I was getting married that day,” she told Glamour of their first wedding. “It was like an intervention. … They just took me to the court. My parents, my brother, they were all ganging up on me. I had a phobia of the marriage thing. … The reason why it was a courthouse wedding was because they dragged me there.”
Still, she faced critics who believed she married the billionaire just because of his billions.
“When I married him, everybody said, ‘Oh, it’s an arranged marriage, she married him for the money,’” Hayek recalled during a 2021 visit to Dax Shepard’s “Armchair Expert” podcast. “I’m like, ‘Yeah, whatever, b—-.’ Think what you want. Fifteen years together, and we are strong in love. And I don’t even get offended. I’m like, ‘Yeah, whatever.’”
In 2018 — nine years after their initial nuptials — the couple stood at the altar once more when Pinault surprised his wife with a vow renewal in Bora Bora.
He’s a father of four
Before they got married, Pinault and Hayek welcomed a daughter to the world.
Valentina Paloma was born in September 2007.
“I always wanted to have a lot of children, and I was not able to. My body, as a miracle, had one,” Hayek told Red in a 2017 interview. “The huge blessing I’ve had is that my husband has three other children. So I have four. And they are all so different.”
Pinault is father to son François and daughter Mathilde, whom he shares with ex-wife Dorothée Lepère, as well as son Augustin James, from his previous relationship with supermodel Linda Evangelista.
François-Henri Pinault is simply ‘the best,’ according to Salma Hayek
Looking back on their enduring partnership in 2019, Hayek raved about Pinault to Town & Country, calling him the “the best husband in the world.”
“I get to be who I am with him, and I don’t feel that somebody tries to limit me,” she said.
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