Bernard Arnault has a simple business creed. A few years ago he summed it up in a book La Passion Créative designed to show he was not just a sharp operator but also an innovator who had created a new kind of business empire – the ultimate luxury conglomerate with LVMH.

“The basic rule is to be there at the right moment, at the right place, to seize a promising opportunity in an environment guaranteeing sufficient longer-term growth,” he said. The man, who has now become the king of the luxury jungle, has once again applied these principles to the letter with his swoop on his smaller French rival, Hermès.

Mr Arnault surprised everybody, not least the families that control Hermès, by announcing on Saturday he had accumulated a 17.1 per cent stake in the venerable luxury goods company founded in 1837. Even better, at least for Mr Arnault and his shareholders, given LVMH bought its stake for a bargain, paying an average of €80.50 a share and thus booked a huge paper gain as a result of the spectacular rise in its rival’s share price.