Actress Salma Hayek has been with her husband François-Henri Pinault since 2006, and the couple share one daughter together. The radiant and fashionable performer certainly grabs the spotlight, but her French partner is generally at her side on the red carpet and any big events where she’s being honored. In his career as a business man, he’s a pretty big deal, too, but fans of Hayek might not have much crossover knowledge.
So here’s everything to know about Pinault and his relationship with Hayek over their many years together.
Who is Salma Hayek’s husband François-Henri Pinault?
Pinault’s family built an empire after his father, also a François, started a business that specialized in building materials. They expanded over the years, and by 1999, their company owned a 42 percent stake in the Gucci Group. Originally called “Pinault,” the business has since rebranded as a luxury goods company called Kering. Kering owns Gucci, Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, and Alexander McQueen, just to start.
Pinault has worked at the company or its subsidiaries since 1987, and took over the role of CEO in 2005 at only 40 years old. He also has a business degrees from HEC. Pinault founded his own company as well, Artemis S.A., a holding company. Through Artemis, The Sunday Times reports he owns auction house Christie’s, French construction company Vinci, and the Bordeaux wine estate Château Latour.
Additionally, he owns French soccer team Stade Rennais F.C., too.
How did Pinault and Hayek meet?
Hayek keeps how she met Pinault close to the vest, though People reported that they most likely met in a palace own by the Pinault family called Palazzo Grassi in Venice at a gala party in 2006.
In 2009, Hayek told Town & Country, “It’s such a romantic, amazing story, but it is mine. I don’t want to vulgarize it by making it into a story to make myself interesting.”
How long have Hayek and Pinault been married?
The couple had a number of wedding ceremonies, first at a Paris courthouse on Valentine’s Day in 2009, then again in Venice, and once more in Bora Bora in 2018 to renew their vows.
“I didn’t even know I was getting married that day,” Hayek told Glamour of the first wedding. “It was like an intervention. I don’t think I ever told this story. No, they just took me to the court. My parents, my brother, they were all ganging up on me. I had a phobia of the marriage thing.”
In 2017, she showed a glimpse of her Venice ceremony, posting a gorgeous picture of an opera house interior. She wrote in the caption, “My wedding party was at the oldest opera house in Europe, La Fenice.”
Hayek officially changed her name to Salma Hayek Pinault after her marriage, but she said in an interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live! that no one will use it.
“I’ve always had the name, but everybody refused to say it,” Hayek said. “My publicists are now saying okay – because they don’t even put it sometimes in the movies and like, ‘Why didn’t you put her full name? Oh, we forgot. Sorry, it’s been printed.’”
But Pinault doesn’t seem to take it personally and is very supportive. In 2017, Hayek told reporters at Harper’s BAZAAR’s 150 Most Fashionable Women celebration, “I married the right guy. That is probably the most important thing. We support each other in everything we do. We want the other one to strive. [It] makes you happy when the other one strives.”
Do Hayek and Pinault have children?
The couple’s only child is their daughter Valentina Paloma, who was born in 2007 on September 21. Pinault also has two children from his previous marriage, his daughter Mathilde and his son François. He also shares a son, Augustin James, with model Linda Evangelista.
“I always wanted to have a lot of children, and I was not able to. My body, as a miracle, had one,” she told Red in 2017. “The huge blessing I’ve had is that my husband has three other children. So I have four. And they are all so different.”
When was Hayek and Pinault’s last big appearance?
Pinault and Hayek actually went to the Balenciaga fall 2024 fashion show together on Dec. 2, 2023. The couple posed at the Los Angeles event, Hayek in a black dress with a statement pink bag and matching shoes.
Aimée Lutkin is the weekend editor at ELLE.com. Her writing has appeared in Jezebel, Glamour, Marie Claire and more. Her first book, The Lonely Hunter, will be released by Dial Press in February 2022.