France's richest man Bernard Arnault sues over 'rich idiot' headline He rejected criticism that he was being antipatriotic on Sunday, insisting he was not becoming a tax exile, despite seeking Belgian nationality as crisis-hit France moves to impose a 75 per cent tax on top earners. "I am and will remain a tax resident in France and in this regard I will, like all French people, fulfil my fiscal obligations," he told AFP, adding that the bid for dual nationality was "linked to personal reasons." Following the election of previous Socialist president Francois Mitterrand in 1981, Mr Arnault lived in the United States for three years, returning to France after the Socialists switched to a more conservative economic course. In a televised interview on Sunday evening, President Francois Hollande, also a Socialist, said Mr Arnault "must weigh up what it means to seek another nationality because we are proud to be French." "One has to appeal to patriotism during this period," he said. Mr Arnault's move has been widely condemned by French political parties on both the left and the far-right right as treacherous. But Francois Fillon, who was prime minister under Mr Sarkozy, denounced "stupid decisions" on the part of the current government which lead to "terrible results." British Prime Minister David Cameron triggered a war of words with France in June by vowing to "roll out the red carpet" for French firms if Mr Hollande implemented the new tax rate.