Bernard Arnault, head of the LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton luxury goods empire, announced on Thursday that he had nominated two more of his children to serve on the company's board of directors, a move to consolidate his family's control over the most valuable conglomerate in Europe.
Those appointments, subject to approval by a 15-person board of directors, essentially secure four of Arnault's five children as the company's top decision-makers, driving a succession strategy that Arnault, France's richest man, has been meticulously mapped out for years in an attempt to extend LVMH's legacy to the next generation.
Arnault, 74, made the announcement while sharing LVMH's financial results for 2023. Despite economic slowdowns in Europe, the United States and China, the company's biggest markets, sales for the year were up 9 percent. , to 86.2 billion euros, or 94 billion dollars. Net profit increased by 8 percent to 15.2 billion euros, a record for the company.
“Our performance in 2023 illustrates the exceptional appeal of our brands and their ability to spark desire, despite a year affected by economic and geopolitical challenges,” said Arnault. Sales were driven by clothing and leather goods, as well as perfumes, cosmetics, watches and jewelry.
Arnault nominated Alexandre Arnault, 31, executive vice president of products and communications at Tiffany and Co., and Frédéric Arnault, 29, CEO of Tag Heuer. They would join two older siblings: Delphine, 48, who is also president and CEO of Christian Dior Couture, and Antoine, 46, who runs several LVMH brands and is in charge of the group's image and efforts. of sustainability. Younger brother Jean, 25, is the director of watches at Louis Vuitton.
“As I have always said, LVMH is a family group,” Arnault said in a statement. He said the two brothers “will bring interesting perspectives.”
Over three decades, Arnault has built LVMH into the world's largest luxury group and France's most valuable company. Its brands (75 in total) are the stars of the luxury world and include Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Tiffany and Dom Pérignon Champagne.
Arnault has long worked to ensure that the conglomerate, which he created by acquiring European luxury brands that had been weakened by their owning families, remains firmly in the hands of his own family. He convinced the board in 2022 to raise the mandatory retirement age for the CEO and president from 75 to 80, and created a corporate structure that ensured that his own children, each of whom have executive roles in the company , would continue to be the main ones. Decision makers.
Such moves have ignited speculation about a competition between the brothers over who will one day succeed their father. Arnault dismissed such comments in an interview last summer with The New York Times, saying: “The best person inside or outside the family should, one day, be my successor. But it's not something I expect to be grieving in the near future.”
In 2022, Forbes named Arnault the world's richest man, a position he lost when LVMH's share price fell about 20 percent amid weakening growth in demand for luxury goods. He now holds the title of the second richest person in the world, according to Forbes, eclipsed by Elon Musk.
Last year, LVMH was also overthrown as Europe's most valuable company by Denmark's Novo Nordisk, the pharmaceutical firm that makes Ozempic and Wegovy, the popular weight-loss drugs.
