The richest man in France's richest Bernard Arnault, said yesterday that he would sue a newspaper over a front-page headline titled "Get lost, you rich idiot!" - which came after he said he was applying for Belgian nationality.
Mr Arnault, the CEO of the luxury conglomerate LVMH, insisted his move is not aimed at avoiding high taxes about to be imposed on the wealthy by France's new Socialist government.
"Bernard Arnault has no other choice, given the extreme vulgarity and the violence of the headline
... but to sue Liberation (for libel)," he said in a statement.
The headline, superimposed on a photo of the smiling Mr Arnault carrying a red suitcase, is a play on a comment by former president Nicolas Sarkozy, who publicly muttered "Casse-toi, pov' con" ("Get lost, you poor idiot") at a man who refused to shake his hand.
The words became a taunt used by Mr Sarkozy's Left-wing critics.
Mr Arnault, the world's fourth-richest man whose fortune Forbes magazine estimates at 32 billion euros, was close to Mr Sarkozy.
He rejected criticism that he was being antipatriotic on Sunday, insisting he was not becoming a tax exile, despite seeking Belgian nationality as crisis-hit France moves to impose a 75 per cent tax on top earners.
"I am and will remain a tax resident in France and in this regard I will, like all French people, fulfil my fiscal obligations," he told AFP, adding that the bid for dual nationality was "linked to personal reasons".
Following the election of previous Socialist president Francois Mitterrand in 1981, Mr Arnault lived in the United States for three years, returning to France after the Socialists switched to a more conservative economic course.
In a televised interview on Sunday evening, President Francois Hollande, also a Socialist, said Mr Arnault "must weigh up what it means to seek another nationality because we are proud to be French".
"One has to appeal to patriotism during this period," he said.
Mr Arnault's move has been widely condemned by French political parties on both the left and the far-right right as treacherous.
But Francois Fillon, who was prime minister under Mr Sarkozy, denounced "stupid decisions" on the part of the current government which lead to "terrible results".
British Prime Minister David Cameron triggered a war of words with France in June by vowing to "roll out the red carpet" for French firms if Mr Hollande implemented the new tax rate.
The richest man in France's richest Bernard Arnault, said yesterday that he would sue a newspaper over a front-page headline titled "Get lost, you rich idiot!" - which came after he said he was applying for Belgian nationality.
Mr Arnault, the CEO of the luxury conglomerate LVMH, insisted his move is not aimed at avoiding high taxes about to be imposed on the wealthy by France's new Socialist government.
"Bernard Arnault has no other choice, given the extreme vulgarity and the violence of the headline
... but to sue Liberation (for libel)," he said in a statement.
The headline, superimposed on a photo of the smiling Mr Arnault carrying a red suitcase, is a play on a comment by former president Nicolas Sarkozy, who publicly muttered "Casse-toi, pov' con" ("Get lost, you poor idiot") at a man who refused to shake his hand.
The words became a taunt used by Mr Sarkozy's Left-wing critics.
Mr Arnault, the world's fourth-richest man whose fortune Forbes magazine estimates at 32 billion euros, was close to Mr Sarkozy.
He rejected criticism that he was being antipatriotic on Sunday, insisting he was not becoming a tax exile, despite seeking Belgian nationality as crisis-hit France moves to impose a 75 per cent tax on top earners.
"I am and will remain a tax resident in France and in this regard I will, like all French people, fulfil my fiscal obligations," he told AFP, adding that the bid for dual nationality was "linked to personal reasons".
Following the election of previous Socialist president Francois Mitterrand in 1981, Mr Arnault lived in the United States for three years, returning to France after the Socialists switched to a more conservative economic course.
In a televised interview on Sunday evening, President Francois Hollande, also a Socialist, said Mr Arnault "must weigh up what it means to seek another nationality because we are proud to be French".
"One has to appeal to patriotism during this period," he said.
Mr Arnault's move has been widely condemned by French political parties on both the left and the far-right right as treacherous.
But Francois Fillon, who was prime minister under Mr Sarkozy, denounced "stupid decisions" on the part of the current government which lead to "terrible results".
British Prime Minister David Cameron triggered a war of words with France in June by vowing to "roll out the red carpet" for French firms if Mr Hollande implemented the new tax rate.