Salma Hayek’s unexpected ‘pressure’ in 15-year marriage with billionaire husband

Salma Hayek and her husband Francois-Henri Pinault have been married for 15 years, but the Frida actress admitted that she has been secretly putting “pressure” on herself in their relationship.

At first glance, the successful Hollywood star – who is worth around $200 million – and the billionaire businessman – who is worth an estimated $34.8 billion – are very financially comfortable and wouldn’t have to worry about money. 

However, Salma said that she feels “pressure” to make money during an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

Salma and the CEO of French luxury fashion house Kering didn’t sign a prenup ahead of their wedding in April 2009, but she only relies on herself financially. 

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“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. 

Salma also touched on her family’s wealth, noting that she lived comfortably during her childhood until her oil executive father lost his fortune when she was in her 20s.

The Eternals star said: “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.”

Salma and Francois-Henri’s marriage

The coupe met in 2006 at a gala at the Palazzo Grassi in Venice before tying the knot three years later – first in a city hall in Paris followed by a larger celebration in Venice.

During an appearance on Dax Shepard’s podcast Armchair Expert, Salma denied she was attracted to her husband for his money and opened up about how he made her “a much better person.”

“When I married him, everybody said, ‘It’s an arranged marriage, she’s marrying him for the money.’

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“I’m like, ‘Yeah, whatever [expletive], think what you want’. Fifteen years together and we are strong in love and I don’t even get offended,” she said.

The 58-year-old admitted that she also had preconceived ideas about her husband’s character before she got to know him.

“There is a discrimination also to rich men. Immediately you think because somebody’s rich, [they] might not be a good person, might be somebody materialistic, might be somebody that doesn’t have values,” she began, adding: “It was the last thing I wanted – it was not my type at all. And I came in with the preconceptions and he [melted] them all away.”

When the couple marked their anniversary in April 2024, she described him as her “soulmate.”

Salma regularly takes the opportunity to gush over the businessman, whom she chooses to spend all her time with.

“I married the right guy,” she said at Harper’s Bazaar’s 150 Most Fashionable Women celebration in 2017. “And you know what, we don’t have a very strong social life, because we really like to spend time together. So we do spend a lot of quality time together.”

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