Salma Hayek Talked About The Reality Of Her Finances As The Wife Of A Billionaire, And I’m Kind Of Shocked By What She Said

For many people, marrying a billionaire would mean money stops being a concern. But, for Salma Hayek, that wasn’t necessarily the case.

A closeup of Salma smiling
Thestewartofny / WireImage

As you may know, Salma is married to François-Henri Pinault, the CEO of Kering, which is a luxury goods company that owns brands like Yves Saint Laurent, Gucci, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, and Alexander McQueen.

François-Henri Pinault, and Salma Hayek posing on a red carpet. Salma wears an elegant dark gown with metallic accents, and François-Henri, is in a classic tuxedo

In a new interview with the Wall Street Journal, Salma revealed that she and her husband never signed a prenup when they married in 2009 and, as a result, still keep their finances separate. For this reason, she has a solid motivation to make her own money.

The couple sitting in the stands of a sporting event

“I support a lot of the aspects of my life and myself. I have the pressure to make a certain amount of money, and I like it. And now, I decided, I want to make more,” she said, adding that François-Henri finds her ambition “kind of sexy.”

Karwai Tang / WireImage

Like her husband, Salma was also born into a pretty wealthy family. Her father was an oil executive, and she grew up in southern Mexico with four live-in maids and was accustomed to flying on private jets.

  Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images for WSJ. Magazine Innovators Awards
Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images for WSJ. Magazine Innovators Awards

However, after she moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting in her 20s, her father lost his fortune, leaving Salma to support her family back home.

Salma in an elegant strapless dress poses on a red carpet event, adorned with temporary butterfly tattoos on her shoulders

Recalling this in her WSJ interview, Salma said: “That’s when I became the best version of myself.”

Vinnie Zuffante / Getty Images

Giving some frank insight into life with extreme wealth, Salma said that, after marrying François-Henri, she was most surprised by how money dominated conversations and connections among the rich.

“To me, the excitement about having a lot of money was that I didn’t have to think about money, and it turned out all people wanted to talk to me about was money,” she said. “Strangers coming to me that aren’t even friends, but they think we should be friends because they’re rich, too.”

I’m pretty surprised by Salma’s revelations — she has a serious work ethic, that’s for sure! Would you still be so motivated to make your own money if you were married to a mega-billionaire without a prenup? LMK in the comments.

You can find her full interview with the Wall Street Journal here.

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