Bernard Arnault to sue Libération

FRANCE'S richest man Bernard Arnault has announced he is to sue Libération newspaper over a front-page story headlined: 'Get lost, rich idiot,' which claimed he was going into tax exile over a new 75% income tax rate.

The LVMH president is suing the left-wing paper for yesterday's front page, headlined: "Casse toi, riche con" - a take on Nicolas Sarkozy's "Casse toi, pauvre con" exclamation at the Salon de l'Agriculture several years ago.

A spokesman for the billionaire said the headline was "extremely vulgar and violent".

Libération's main shareholder, Baron Edward de Rothschild, defended the paper's coverage, saying: "It's simply in the provocative style of Liberation and I think it was a very good marketing operation."

In a follow-up front-page article today, the paper said: "Bernard, if you come back, we'll take it back."

The page also carried a half-page advert for a new Yves Saint Laurent perfume - the major rival to Arnault's LVMH group.

Arnault yesterday denied that he intends to go into tax exile after revealing that he has applied for double Franco-Belgian nationality.

With a fortune estimated by finance magazine Forbes to be €32bn - making him the fourth wealthiest in the world - the boss of luxury goods firm LVMH, said: "I am and will remain a tax resident in France and I will, like all French people, fulfil my fiscal obligations. Our country must count on everyone to do their bit to face a deep economic crisis amid strict budgetary constraints."

The bid for Belgian nationality began several months ago, he said, and was "linked to personal reasons".

Photo: nicogenin