French newspaper to France’s richest man: “Get lost, you rich bastard“

Libération has little sympathy for billionaire Bernard Arnault's complaints about the proposed 75 per cent tax rate.

In response to the news that France’s richest man has applied for Belgian nationality, the country’s leading left-wing daily has declared: “get lost, you rich bastard!”*

The forthright headline, emblazoned across today’s front page of Libération, is aimed at Bernard Arnault, CEO of the luxury fashion conglomerate LMVH. Arnault applied for Belgian nationality after the socialist president François Hollande proposed a new 75 per cent tax rate on earnings over one million euros. He denies he is trying to avoid tax, but Libération nonetheless condemns his decision as “a symbol of the arrogance of the wealthiest”.