Here are some photos of Salma Hayek, Francois-Henri Pinault and Valentina Pinault at the La Belle & la Bete premiere in Paris over the weekend. That’s the new French version of Beauty and the Beast, starring Lea Seydoux and Vincent Cassel. Anyway, I just thought you’d like to see these photos – Salma doesn’t bring Valentina on the red carpet very often, but Valentina is definitely familiar with mommy & daddy’s circle of friends and all that. Valentina is already comfortable at fashion shows and premieres, and she seems like a pretty well-adjusted kid.
There’s also a rumor going around Europe that Salma and Francois might be plunking down $300 MILLION on a crazy Spanish estate called Almoraima.
LIKE a scene out of Dusk til Dawn, Hollywood star Salma Hayek zoomed into Andalucia this week in an audacious bid to buy Spain’s controversial Almoraima estate. The Mexican-born actress was reported to have flown into the estate, near Castellar de la Frontera, by helicopter with her billionaire husband Francois-Henri Pinault.
It would be excellent news for the area, as Hayak is known as a keen environmentalist and would be just the person to promote the beautiful estate abroad.
The 14,000 hectare estate became a subject of angry scenes after the government announced its sale last year. Despite being alongside the Alcornocales Natural Park, it favoured an ‘elite tourism’ development, which would have polo pitches, golf courses and an airstrip.
It has led to the Junta to attempt to rezone the area into the park itself to prevent the development from going ahead.
The Olive Press launched a campaign to save the area in the autumn, with a trio of expat writers insisting it would be a disaster to develop it.
It is not known the type of project of Hayak, at this stage, although it would unlikely be destructive to the area. Her husband is the owner of the Kering group which owns luxury goods companies such as Alexander McQueen, Puma and Brioni. Forbes magazine estimates his wealth at $15 billion.
[From The Olive Press]
I would suspect that even the man who is worth $15 billion would hesitate to buy a $300 million estate. Especially a controversial estate that would be partly devoted to preservation. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe this is perfect for Salma and Francois. But he seems more like a Paris guy, maybe he vacations in Capri or St. Moritz. Shelling out that kind of cash for a Spanish estate? I don’t see him going for it.
PS… Valentina’s leopard print is SO AWESOME. Is it wrong to want her shoes?
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.
I don’t know anything about him, but I find her husband sort of cute. And not because he’s a billionaire, although that never hurts.
Well, if you have $300 million to spend on your house…who am I to say? It seems…excessive? I mean, what does the house include that’s worth that much money?
I find him sort of cute too. I mean not bad for an old billionaire right? Something about him reminds me a little of Daniel Craig too. Do you see it?
Yeesss … I totally do now.
OMG…He always reminded me of someone but I could never put my finger on it.
Daniel Craig — brilliant!!
*Bows*
omg. YES. could totally be his somewhat goofy older brother
I agree. He is cute for a billionaire and there is definitely a resemblance to Daniel Craig
Daniel Craig, yes. But if he had a baby with a younger Gene Hackman.
bwahahah! exactly!!!
I was curious as well & found that after converting hectares to acres we are talking approximately 35,000 acres. Versailles is approximately 250 acres. I have actually visited Versailles so WOW. That is one large piece of property. It also has a castle and is part of some sort of nature preserve. It also appears the government is selling public lands for private development so there is a lot to this story.
Wow, thanks, Naomi. Interesting.
Silver fox. And yes, the fortune helps.
He is kind of sexy. He reminds me – just a little bit – of the late Jean-Pierre Cassel, who used to be my heart-throb when I was little (No, seriously.) But only a tiny little bit.
I’ve always thought that January Jones’ kid looks like him.
Escalando!!!!!
When I saw that picture, the first thing that struck me was how much Valentina looks like Suri Cruise.
Wow I had no clue he was worth so much!
that kid is funny 🙂 in a cute way
she’s the spitting image of her dad.
yea, and not sure that’s a good thing. But dag, what a life that kid will have!! Am just sayin’ cuz her mom is redonculously hot. Daughters who don’t inherit mama’s good looks tend to have a hard time, but this kid seems loved:)) I mean: http://www.makeupgeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/salma-hayek.jpeg
oh and: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__FB9waRXJB0/S-hDQa8UVhI/AAAAAAAACX4/F045VBTXK3M/s1600/salmahayak.jpg
How did she bag this billionaire ? i wish she did write a book and guide us all:P
His family own PPR the company that owns Gucci, YSL, Stella McCartney but retail is where they made money and he owns Christie’s
AG- UK ,yeah she is tough as nails ,but really smart too , i read somewhere smthn that Aishwarya rai said abt her when they were both part of Cannes jury ;that everyone at the jury had a quite a negative review abt a certain movie ,but then Salma spoke up and showed them the movie in awhole new light ,they were quite impressed
She’s a beautiful, high-maintenance woman with a spectacular bust and rich men have a thing for demanding trophy wives. Have the confidence/ego to know how much you’re worth and the billionaires will be slavering to get a piece of you!
to get a piece of is one thing, to propose a marriage is another 🙂
It also helps if you are a super model or an actress. And I must be the only b*tch in the room today because I think Valentina looks a mess and needs styling tips from H7 and her mom Victoria Beckham.
@TG I’m lining up with you. The outfit had the potential to be cute, but the pants/leggings just don’t work. Not a biggie, but with all that money and access to fashion, I’d expect mom to have better taste. It is entirely possible Valentina picked her own outfit of course. Don’t care so much (and I know they could care less what humble ole me thinks) but, I admit I appreciate a well-dressed kid.
Yes I hear from people in fashion she is not that nice and hard work.
It is never wrong to want a kid’s shoes. Kids shoes are awesome. I want a grownup pair of those lightup sneakers for little girls or the wheelie sneakers.
As for the estate, gotta be honest here. I would love to have even just one day where I could live a life that includes thoughts like “why YES, I SHALL buy that $300 million estate” and be able to do it. Just. One. Day. That’s all I want. *sigh*
i think those particular shoes will not look good on some adult lady’s legs. Especially if your legs are not like Sharlize’s.
Oh be quiet, you with your realistic and appropriate fashion advice 😉
ok))
Valentina seems like a lot of fun! 🙂
that cape! so adorable
Whenever I see pics of him I think of Linda Evangelista.
Yup. Me too. Je me souviens.
I wonder what Salma thinks. And what Valentina will think when she’s a grown-up.
Which is interesting because someone up thread asked how to land a billionaire and Linda was a model and Salma an actress and Salma is the one who got the ring. I really do wonder how she did it. What makes a guy like that agree to marry you when he didn’t marry the other women who are just as attractive, etc.
I’d rather remember Dorothée Lepère, his first French wife and his two older children he suddenly decided to quit when midlife crisis struck him and he had to trade his all-too-common-French-family against American models and actresses.
To tell you the truth Gwen, the whole Linda Evangelista thing made me lose a lot of respect for Salma. I remember her giving an interview and referring to Valentina as an only child, or else her acknowledging Valentina’s older siblings and not her half-brother. I just remember her denying the existence of Pinault’s kid with Linda. I was disgusted with him/them dragging their feet with paying the child support, it’s not like he doesn’t have the money! All that he had to do was put his hand under the couch cushions or put on an old pair of pants and look in the pocket to find the funds. Linda Evangelista may or may not have been doing a bit of gold digging but there is no reason why he shouldn’t pay the same for both/each? of his kids. I can’t stand when people don’t take care of their children or when people have money and don’t take care of their kids. There are ways that he could have decreased his chances of having a kid if he didn’t want to eventually be made to contribute financially to a child’s upbringing.
Most men treat the kids the way they feel about the mother. He obviously can’t stand Linda and the child is the one who suffers. He got Linda preggers during a break with Salma maybe she didn’t acknowledge the kid because she was heartbroken about it. Maybe Linda lied about being on the pill. Or maybe he’s just a douche. However it is completely wrong not to support his own child especially being a Billionaire.
@goddesslove,
I agree with your assessment but it still pisses me off. Grow up and be responsible!!!
I understand that family dynamics are difficult especially when there are new spouses or exes in the picture. But I am still disappointed in Salma. It just seemed so shitty. I hate when people don’t acknowledge kids, the circumstances that have befallen them are in no way their fault. But I guess that it would be easier to resent them (Linda and son) instead of Mr. Moneybags himself.
I agree @Renee – I can’t stand when they don’t give of themselves to the child. I don’t mind if someone fights about how much child support they should pay but to not acknowledge your child and to not give your time and love to that child makes me sick. I can’t stand gold-diggers but someone can only dig for gold if a man is stupid enough not to use protection. And something tells me Salma has been motivated by money all along so there was no heart to be breaking about their brief split. Wasn’t the rumor that she told him she gets a child out of the bargain too since Linda got one?
I totally agree Renee.
Did you ever think that they were not on break but that Francois cheated on her and that’s why she has a problem?
Francois has 4 kids not 2 and Salma acknowledges them she been photograph out and about with them and they’ve all been on vacation together more then once. Which leads me to believe somthing eles went down.
Having said all that its not the child fault but the adults and he should not punished for their behaviour.
These are all wonderful noble sentiments that don’t apply to Linda Evangelista and her son. This is what came out in court:
1. kids were a deal breaker for François. He made that very clear from day 1 of his ‘fling’ with Linda. They both acknowledged that it was a fling and they met only a few times during the duration of their time together.
2. Linda conceived regardless. When she informed him, he reiterated the ‘baby deal breaker’ part of their relationship. And went as far as suggesting she aborted the pregnancy.
3. Linda refused to abort the pregnancy and stated that she would raise the child with no help from him, financially or otherwise. So they parted ways.
4. Linda went on to bag herself another Billionaire, the guy who owns the hardrock cafes. (Harry or Henry Morton)
5. Life and love were good for Linda for 4 (FOUR) years without any support from Francois as the Morton guy took care of her and her son.
6. After those 4 yrs, her relationship with the Morton Billionaire ended which coincided with some of her long term modelling contracts also ending. Cue shake down of Francois.
7. One of the sticking points of the sums in question though it was disguised as trying to match her son’s money with Valentina’s money was the fact that the support had many line items that were clearly mummy support. The list of requirements was mind blowing for the few items that were child support vs mommy support.
8. Linda also said she didn’t want to spend alone time with the kid because she was busy modelling or preparing herself for any future work that might be available like gym visits, spa treatments etc.
9. In contention wasn’t that he refused to take care of the child, only the amounts involved.
Unfortunately for him, in mommy wars, the mother always wins. No one looks past that. And it was giving him a really bad rep, so they settled behind closed doors.
Linda gets her mommy support, and nannies raise her child!
@goddesslove and some other upthread. When Salma and Francois met in Venezia for the first time (april 26 2006) at a function Slma was invted to, he already had ended his whatever he had with Linda, who was pregnant and gave birth in october of 2006.
Salma gave birth in september 2007, and they broke their engagement a year later, in 2008. Francois was fooling around with some horsewoman socialite and was photographed and everything, but later Salma and him reconciled and married in Valentine’s day 2009, the big party was later. So, Augustin is a year older than Valentina.
He really could have chosen any of the two, and he preferred Salma for some reason. I actually think that Salma is a more interesting woman, more productive, she, within her limitations and defects strikes me as an entrepreneur, she dared to leave her tv company when very few actresses (talented or untalented) dared to, and went to chase her dreams of an international career.
She is a producer of movies and tv programs, and she has made some good work. I comapre her to Aniston, more or less the same age, but she hadore money than Salma before her martiage, and Salma was producing and acting in interesting movies she found for herself. I like that about Salma.
Hey, go for it- goodness knows Spain needs an influx of cash.
Yes, please. We are in dire straits over here. You really can’t fully comprehend what’s going on over here by reading the international press. :-(((((( I cry every day for my country, it’s horrid, so so bad, and the government is just making it worse for the people and very nice for the corporations that line their pockets. It’s so so very bad. And I’m crying again :-((((( Sorry, my bad.
*Abrazos*
I’d buy over there if I had more than £25, I love Spain… 🙂
Thanx a bunch, guys! Really!!! Just a tiny bit of input, three things I posted on FB in the past month, not about the macroeconomics, but on character, which really says it all:
Dear lovely friends not living in Spain, I am about to start posting some tidbits in English about the situation that we’re living here in Spain. We had already been told by the ruling Government that we could try to placate our hunger by praying effectively. I can now officially give you some good news on the subject, it seems that our prayers may have been well received high up above because our Minister of Internal Affairs has just said that ‘Saint Teresa always preached about hard times, and I am convinced she is interceding [with God] so that we may come out of these hard times’ I hope that you find this new type of posts enlightening, or entertaining. Please let me know if you’re not interested or if you happen to gag. I can stop at any time. #officialSpanishBrand #marcaEspaña
Dear foreign friends,
Not to worry, do not fret, don’t you worry about our misfortunes. I am happy today because the sun is shining and our elected officials believe that we are actually able to sustain a higher unemployment rate (currently over 26%) because ‘the weather is magnificent’ so it shouldn’t be so bad for us.
Bisous,
Rachel
For my dear Foreign Friends, this is another update on Spanish Fascism. The Mayor of the city of Madrid, Ana Botella, who already disgraced us at the election of the last Olympics destination with her ridiculous manic speech, and who has NOT been elected by the citizens because she just inherited the title of Mayor on account of her being the wife of our infamous ex-President Aznar (famous for creating the housing bubble and exponentially incrementing the number of cronies who are directly receiving State money on top of also stealing it) has just said the following in relation to the Supreme Court ruling that we have a right to demonstrate our dissatisfaction with how things are being currently handled in our country: ‘Judges, do not listen to the people in the streets. That’s something that belongs to the French Revolution’. So, even though we already knew how these people think, it just might be a good thing to have it out in the open, i.e. that our Government believes in the caste system and that Liberty, Equality and Fraternity is something to be fought against by the State. This is becoming more and more unnerving by the day, if that’s even possible.
🙁 🙁 🙁
My Dad (RIP) was born in Spain. It looks like such a beautiful country. Here in America we are dealing with a growing government, unemployment, economic woes (though they try to tell people everything is just great), and a president whose approval rating has fallen to 39%. Grocery prices are going up weekly, and everything is just costing more and more. International news does not make the headlines here nearly as often as it should, and we should be paying close attention to what is happening in your country as well as others for I fear these are things that are just over the horizon for us.
My comment was a bit tongue in cheek, but serious at the same time. I have visited your lovely country, and was so impressed with the culture and people. That being said, I have tried to keep current with the economic problems both here in the US and Spain and Greece. It has been tough here, and cannot imagine how bleak it must seem both in Spain and Greece, just to name two. I hope the worldwide economic climate improves sooner as opposed to later.
Where do you live in Spain, Siddhi? I’ll be going back after dealing with some family things, but I sympathise. I can always teach English but seeing my friends struggle so badly breaks my heart.
Fuck the PP for being scum, and fuck the PSOE for not being any better.
I hope Salma does get this estate, she doesn’t need to develop it into oblivion or have shareholders to answer to.
Valentina looks a lot like her father, never noticed that before.
I can’t imagine spending anything close to that on an estate, but he has more money than I can comprehend.
Nose up, Valentina’s a dead ringer for Dad. On that photo of them on the blue carpet, she really has Salma’s jaw line.
Personally i don’t see how you can justify sending so much on a single property but i guess you dont have too when its your cheddar.
As far as investments go, this one would be idiotic. There will be nothing to gain and you will lose your neck if you sell it at a loss. But then again, I am not worth 15 billion so what do I know.
Maybe Salma plans to leave him? The property will be in HER name, after all.
Linda Evangelista will NOT be happy about that. LOL.
Man I covet those McQueen boots she’s wearing.
My, but young señorita Valentina looks just like her daddy, now doesn’t she?
it’s regarded as the most beautiful estate in spain. the big issue is what they are going to do with it. i live in the same region and the major concern is someone trying to develop, which would utterly destroy the natural park it’s in. there’s been some cheerleading here for salma as people seem to think she’s a better option as she might save it, as opposed to the plan of the agriculture ministry which will ruin it. local groups wanted to use it for training the unemployed in organic farming, but the government won’t make enough money and they already hate all the poor andalucians anyway. they’ll sell it to the highest bidder and damn everyone else.
Estimada compatriota, I guess she would not dare to develop non-sustainably? I mean, she is a public figure and would receive a lot of backlash if she did. I live in Madrid, so I don’t have as much input as you do about the issue, but I’d rather go with Salma than with the Government (local or national, asco de PPPSOE!!!) or with some obscure corporation with money blinding strategies… Complex issue, at the very least. My best wishes for all of you down in Andalucia! Y un abrazo grande!
(no soy de españa. solo vivo aqui con mi marido andaluz. pero sevilla es el amor de mi vida! jaja)
i hope she does. i’d certainly trust her more than the government or la junta. it is complex. hoping for the best outcome possible. but nothing feels too hopeful here just now. my best wishes to you and all madrileños. un abrazo fuerte.
Valentina looks just like her Dad with Salma’s coloring. Not sure what to say about that.
I won’t comment on Valentina’s looks, because I think all children are beautiful. But, all you have to do is google Lizzie Grubman and her parents to see the price you pay when marrying for money.
SALMA’S HUSBAND IS NOT OLD THEY ARE ABOUT THE SAME AGE . HE JUST LOOKS MUCH OLDER AND THAT DAUGHTER LOOKS JUST LIKE HIM
Three hundred million when he’s worth fifteen billion? As Ralph Kramden would say “A mere bag of shells”. I can’t even fathom thinking that way, but I guess some people just have it like that.
Didn’t she kill a bunch of tigers she owned from neglect? There are only about 3,000 tigers left in the wild, so even the ones in captivity are very important to their survival. I never disliked her that much before the tiger story came out. Now, I find her a despicable human being.
While I agree that tigers and other exotic animals should not be pets, that probably happened well over 30 or 25years ago to keep holding it against her.
Probably her father did get them, as she grew up with them and they lived in their state, she was a student then, and then left to study in teh US and in Mexico city, fat from her hometown.
I do not think “she” got them or was actually responsible for them.
I just can’t stand Salma. I feel she is a golddigger too and the way she handled the Evangelista situation was horrible.
The way Linda handled the Evangelista situation was way worse, she actually admitted that she needed payment for for 3 nannies (each with an 8 hour shift) and two bodyguards because she couldn’t spend more than a couple of hours a day with her son because of her career, even though she hardly works.
The cash grab was for Linda not the kid because there was already a trust fund set up for him (as with all his other children), but the boy can’t collect until he is of age which prevented Linda from getting her hands on the money. According to French law he will also automatically inherit equally in the Pinault estate with his step siblings. Linda got pregnant deliberately hoping that Pinault would marry her GOLDDIGGER in capital letters.
Yep. Linda needing 3 nannies when she’s not a top, in demand model at her age was the tipping point. She wants paid mothers so she can live her lavish lifestyle.
Francois is just a man with a penis who naturally went for a model for just a fling. Salma is classy and ambitious with her OWN stuff she’s passionate about. That’s why he married her. She’s obviously loving toward’s him regardless of him being a billionaire. Though it doesn’t hurt. I think she really loves him and his money is just a REALLY nice bonus. But she does love him.
Linda LOVED him money. He could have been Jay Howard Marshall and she’s have been on fertility drugs and crushing Viagra in a smoothie for the old man to drink so she could get pregnant. I have no doubt Linda was on some fertility drugs
Wow okay, sounds awful. Well, then I dislike both ladies.
I doubt he’d sink $300 million in real estate without expecting a return within 5-10 years. Sounds like a development in the works.
And is he individually worth $15B or is that the family fortune?