Bernard Arnault appoints two more sons to the board of LVMH, Cementing Family Control
Bernard Arnault, the head of luxury goods empire LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, announced Thursday that he had nominated two more of his children for seats on the company's board, a bid to cement his family's control over Europe's most valuable conglomerate .
These appointments are subject to the approval of a 15-member committee plateessentially locking in four of Mr. Arnault's five children as the company's key decision-makers, furthering a succession strategy that Mr. Arnault, France's richest man, has painstakingly mapped out for years in an effort to extend LVMH's legacy to extend to the next generation.
Mr Arnault, 74, made the announcement as he shared LVMH's 2023 financial results. Despite economic slowdowns in Europe, the United States and China, the company's biggest markets, sales rose 9 percent this year to 86.2 billion euros, or $94 billion. Net profit increased by 8 percent to €15.2 billion — a recording for the company.
“Our 2023 performance illustrates the exceptional appeal of our brands and their ability to ignite desire, despite a year impacted by economic and geopolitical challenges,” said Mr. Arnault. Sales were driven by clothing and leather goods, but also by perfumes, cosmetics, watches and jewelry.
Mr. Arnault nominated Alexandre Arnault, 31, executive vice president of product and communications at Tiffany & Company, and Frédéric Arnault, 29, CEO of Tag Heuer. They would join two older siblings: Delphine, 48, who is also chairman and CEO of Christian Dior Couture, and Antoine, 46, who runs multiple LVMH brands and is responsible for the group's image and sustainability efforts. The youngest sibling, Jean, 25, is the watch director of Louis Vuitton.
“As I have always said, LVMH is a family business,” Mr. Arnault said in a statement. He said the two brothers “will each bring interesting perspectives.”
Over the past three decades, Mr. Arnault has transformed LVMH into the world's largest luxury group and the most valuable company in France. The brands – 75 of them – are the stars of the luxury world, including Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Tiffany and Dom Pérignon Champagne.
Mr Arnault has long ensured that the conglomerate – which he created by acquiring European luxury brands that had been weakened by the families who owned them – will remain firmly in the hands of his own family. He convinced the board in 2022 to raise the mandatory retirement age for the CEO and chairman from 75 to 80, and created a corporate structure that ensured that his children – who each have a leadership role in the company – would remain the main decision-maker . makers.
Such moves have led to speculation about competition between the siblings over who will one day succeed their father. Mr. Arnault dismissed such talk in an interview with The New York Times last summer, saying: “The best person in the family or outside should one day be my successor. But it's not something I hope will be a match for the foreseeable future.”
In 2022, Forbes named Mr. Arnault the richest man in the world, a position he lost when LVMH's share price fell about 20 percent due to slowing growth in demand for luxury goods. He now holds the title of the second richest person in the world, according to Forbesovershadowed by Elon Musk.
Last year, LVMH was also ousted as Europe's most valuable company by Denmark's Novo Nordisk, the pharmaceutical company that makes Ozempic and Wegovy, the popular drugs used for weight loss.