Cartier Boss - Class War Threat

Johann Rupert Cartier Boss CNN

It is interesting that the owner of the Cartier brand said this at an international luxury market conference in Monaco according to CNN:

Johann Rupert, chairman of Cartier owner Richemont (CFRHF), made a number of dystopian warnings during a speech at a Financial Times conference in Monaco.

He forecast that robots would "put hundreds of millions of people out of work," which would widen the gap between rich and poor and stoke social unrest.

"It's really what keeps me awake at night ... How is society going to cope with structural unemployment and the envy, hatred and the social warfare? Because the people with money will not wish to show it," he said.

 Super wealthy clients could be targeted as unemployment surges, he said. That would make selling luxury goods more difficult.

"We cannot have 0.1% of 0.1% [of rich individuals] taking all the spoils. And folks, those are our clients. But it's unfair and it is not sustainable," he said to an audience that appeared stunned by his remarks. "So I don't know what new social pact we'll have, but we'd better find one." 

Mr Rupert lives in a country [South Africa] where people get shot and killed every day, and where rape, muggings and robbery are commonplace. You would not want to walk around much of South Africa wearing a Cartier watch or jewellery - Rupert is saying that situation could come to Europe and the USA. In Venezuelan people are robbing shops to get food.

These claims may be considered mearly headline grabbing, but they are very real concerns when you live in country like South Africa, with the huge chasm between rich and poor.