Huge! This is huge!! Donations to rebuild Notre Dame have exceeded 600 million euros as France’s richest man pledged 200 million euros towards the restoration after Monday night’s inferno.
The tally of donations so far includes Bernard Arnault of LVMH who doubled Salma Hayek’s businessman husband who donated 100 million euros.
Other heavyweight donors include the Bettencourt family – owners of cosmetics giant L’Oreal – who have given 200 million euros and the French oil giant Total who matched the Bettencourts on Tuesday.
Multi-billionaire Bernard Arnault and French tycoon Francois-Henri Pinault made their generous pledges after President Emmanuel Macron launched an appeal on Monday.
Pinault said: ‘This tragedy impacts all French people’ and ‘everyone wants to restore life as quickly as possible to this jewel of our heritage.’
This was followed on Tuesday by another €100 million donation from multinational oil and gas company Total, which is headquartered in Paris.
CEO Patrick Pouyanne tweeted that Total was making ‘a special donation of 100 million euros’ and added the slogan ‘fluctuat nec mergitur’ (tossed but not sunk), a motto on the old Paris coat of arms.
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