PPR Finds Bolt No Match for Champagne in Race with LVMH

When Usain Bolt steps into the starting blocks at the London Olympics, Francois-Henri Pinault will likely be watching with greater interest than most fans of the Jamaican sprinter called the fastest man on earth. As chief executive officer of PPR SA -- the French company that owns shoemaker Puma SE -- Pinault has a lot riding on Bolt, one of the few star athletes to wear the footwear brand.

If Bolt fails to retain his 100-meter title in London, “it would be a real blow for Puma,” said Thomas Mesmin, an analyst with brokerage CA Cheuvreux in Paris.