The money has begun to pour in for Notre Dame.
On Monday, the world watched in horror as Paris’ famous Notre Dame cathedral suffered extensive fire damage. The dome atop the church collapsed into the interior, and the world-famous spire fell. It took approximately 400 firefighters working into the night to bring the fire under control.
French president Emmanuel Macron immediately confirmed that the structure, of which the first brick was laid in the 12th century, would be rebuilt. Macron further confirmed that the facade of the building, as well as both iconic bell towers, had been saved.
Overnight, hundreds of millions of euro has been raised for the effort to rebuild Notre Dame. François-Henri Pinault and his family, including his wife actress Salma Hayek, have pledged €100 million to the reconstruction.
Pinault is the chairman and CEO of the luxury group Kering, which owns fashion brands including Balenciaga, Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen, and Gucci.
Shortly afterwards, it was reported that the Arnault family that controls LVMH (the company behind luxury fashion brand Louis Vuitton) said it had pledged €200million. The city of Paris has also freed up €10million in emergency funding for the cathedral, according to Bloomberg.
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