Francois Pinault, chairman of retail group Pinault-Printemps-Redoute (PPR) and Bernard Arnault, chief executive of luxury products company LVMH-Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton are sparring again.
"I wouldn't say they hate each other but they aren't exactly close," says a French corporate financier. "As far as I know they haven't spoken to each other for more than a year even though they have many friends in common."
Despite different backgrounds - Arnault studied mathematics at the elite Ecole de Polytechnique, Pinault was a school drop-out - they have much in common.
Both worked for their fathers in their 20s, Arnault for Ferret-Savinel, the family-owned construction and real-estate business, Pinault for Bois du Nord, a wood producer. Both have wine interests: Arnault owns Chateau d'Yquem, Pinault owns Chateau Latour. Both have a talent for spotting, and then turning around, loss-making conglomerates.