Notre Dame fire fund hits 600 million euros and rising as L'Oreal offers to pay 200m

Authored by standard.co.uk and submitted by kcgg123
image for Notre Dame fire fund hits 600 million euros and rising as L'Oreal offers to pay 200m

ES News email The latest headlines in your inbox ES News email The latest headlines in your inbox Enter your email address Continue Please enter an email address Email address is invalid Fill out this field Email address is invalid You already have an account. Please log in Register with your social account or click here to log in I would like to receive lunchtime headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts, by email Update newsletter preferences

More than 600 million euros has been pledged by French billionaires and companies to help restore the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

L'Oreal, the Bettencourt Meyers family and the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation have announced they will donate 200 million euros (£172.7m) towards the cost of repairs.

It comes after billionaire Bernard Arnault's family and his LVMH luxury goods group said they were donating 200 million euros to "show their solidarity at this time of national tragedy".

The iconic tourist spot was engulfed by a raging fire on Monday night that caused its main spire and roof to collapse.

A statement from the Arnault family said: "The Arnault family and the LVMH group would like to show their solidarity at this time of national tragedy, and are joining up to help rebuild this extraordinary cathedral, which is a symbol of France, of its heritage and of French unity."

The donation brings the total amount raised to more than 600 million euros, after French billionaire Francois-Henri Pinault and major French oil and gas company Total both pledged 100 million towards the reconstruction.

Mr Pinault, married to actress Salma Hayek, is quoted in French media as saying he and his father, Francois, decided to donate to help with the "complete reconstruction" of Notre Dame.

The younger Mr Pinault is chief executive of international luxury group Kering, which owns brands such as Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent, and is the president of French holding company Groupe Artemis, which owns the Christie's auction house.

Oil and gas company Total will also donate 100 million euros towards the reconstruction, CEO Patrick Pouyanne announced.

Apple CEO Tim Cook also pledged to donate to help rebuild the cathedral, writing: "We are heartbroken for the French people and those around the world for whom Notre Dame is a symbol of hope.

"Relieved that everyone is safe. Apple will be donating to the rebuilding efforts to help restore Notre Dame’s precious heritage for future generations."

Meanwhile, France's Fondation du Patrimoine, a private organisation which works to protect French heritage, said it would be starting an international appeal.

It tweeted: "For our Lady to be reborn from her ashes we are launching an international appeal. All donations received will be paid in full to the restoration site."

Mr Macron said he would be looking "beyond our borders" as the fundraising campaign got under way.

In a speech on Monday night, he said: "I am solemnly telling you tonight: this cathedral will be rebuilt by all of us together."

Describing Notre Dame as "our history" and "the epicentre of our lives", he added: "It's probably part of France's destiny and it will be our project for the years to come."

Across the pond, the US-based French Heritage Society said it would be establishing a restoration fund, while several appeals have already been set up on crowdfunding sites such as Go Fund Me and Just Giving.

A campaign launched by Dartagnans, a website dedicated to the preservation of French cultural and artistic heritage, has so far received almost £24,500 in donations from 610 users across 35 different countries.

Another, launched on website Leetchi by friends Charles Gosse and Laurent Segnis, received more than £9,500 donations in under seven hours.

“As citizens, we must all use whatever small means we have to unite,” Mr Segnis told Le Monde, confirming that all money raised on their platform would go straight to the rector of Notre Dame.

It comes after flames engulfed the world-famous cathedral on Monday afternoon, toppling its 315ft spire and threatening the entire wooden frame of the building.

The blaze, which broke out as the last crowds of tourists ended visits at around 6pm BST (7pm local time), was finally declared to be "completely under control" nearly nine hours later.

However, it is expected to take several days to completely extinguish all remaining pockets of fire, dampen down hotspots and secure the world-famous edifice.

Around 400 firefighters battled the fire into the night and tried to salvage artwork and other priceless pieces stored in the 12th-century cathedral. Paris Fire Service later confirmed that Notre Dame's structure and main works of art have been saved.

Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo tweeted her thanks to the firefighters who saved the cathedral's twin towers.

She said on Twitter: "I want to say thank you to Pompiers Paris, they saved the towers. I could not imagine Paris without the towers of Notre Dame."

On Tuesday morning, the first harrowing images from within the fire-ravaged cathedral started to emerge.

A smouldering pile of what appeared to be the charred remains of the roof and spire lay smoking in front of the altar, while a cross that had escaped destruction glowed from within the gloom.

Gilded candlesticks, artworks and furnishings were among the treasures seen being rushed from the cathedral by a "human chain" before being bundled into trucks by police officers.

Some of the cathedral's most precious objects, including a relic purported to be the crown of thorns worn by Jesus Christ on the cross, were rescued.

EnoughPM2020 on April 16th, 2019 at 12:24 UTC »

For those who don’t know, Bernard Arnault is the chairman and CEO of LVMH - LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE AND Christine Dior. His company owns and controls Brands such as Dior, Moet Hennessy, Givenchy, TAG Hauer and Louis Vuitton. As of now his net worth is $91.3 Billion, largely comes from his ownership of both companies (Dior and LVMH) as well as his extensive art collections.

The other billionaire, Francois-Henri Pinault, is the owner of Groupe Artémis, which also owns Kering. Kering controls Brands like Alexander McQueen, Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga; and Groupe Artemis owns the Auction House Christie’s. His estimated net worth is $30.7 Billion and he also married Mexican-American Actress Salma Hayek in 2009.

It’s interesting (but not surprised) to see that the richest person In France and in Europe comes from the fashion and luxury goods industry.

balazs955 on April 16th, 2019 at 10:45 UTC »

He was like: this other guy offered a 100 million, I have to double down.

themax1 on April 16th, 2019 at 09:31 UTC »

Make that 301 million euros, since the official crowdfunding campaign apparently already raised 1.3 million. Still a lot of money, but seems almost insignificant compared to these billionaire donations now..