LVMH CEO, Bernard Arnault, who can now be the richest man in the worldaccording to Forbes, is said to be deciding which of his five children will take over the empire.
The company recently raised the age limit for executives so Arnault could stay.
Arnault has run this luxury group for decades. His net worth is estimated at $184.7 billion. LVMH includes fashion brands Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior, champagne maker Moët & Chandon and watch company TAG Heuer.
The CEO can use this time to think about whether one of his children will take over, Luck was reported in March, shortly after Arnault’s 73rd birthday. The old patriarch and his five children jostling for power closely mirror the HBO series heir.
Meet Arnault’s five talented children who might one day run LVMH.
Delphine Arnault
47-year-old French businesswoman and Vice President of Louis Vuitton. She attended EDHEC Business School in Lille and the London School of Economics.
She started her career at McKinsey in Paris, where she worked as a consultant for two years and studied strategy Financial Times. She gained experience in the fashion industry while working at designer John Galliano’s agency in 2000, helping to develop the brand.
From 2001 to 2013, she started working in the shoe department at Christian Dior and rose to the position of deputy chief executive officer for the executive committee. During this time, she oversaw one of the brand’s most successful phases, directing the development of leather goods, accessories and media strategy.
Since then, she has become executive vice president of Louis Vuitton and is responsible for overseeing the brand’s product-related activities. She follows a calm management style and tends to visit stores when they are busiest.
The successful businesswoman also sits on such boards as Château Cheval Blanc, The Saint-Emilion Premier Grand Cru, Les Echos, Loewe, Pucci’s, Celine, Christian Dior, 21st Century foxand Repossi. From 2009 she was a member of the supervisory board of M6, until 2013 she joined the supervisory board of Havas.
Delphine is also a supporter of the LVMH Awards, which allow young fashion designers to be coached by LVMH professionals. In 2014, she was also honored as one of the Luck’S 40 under 40.
Antoine Arnault
Antoine, 45, is head of media and imaging at LVMH. He is also the chairman of Loro Piana and the chief executive officer of Berluti. The eldest son took on the role of Berluti’s first chief executive officer, turning the luxury shoe company into a menswear brand.
In 2002, when Arnault was 25 years old, he co-founded an internet startup and started working on LVMH’s marketing team. He then earned an MBA from Insead and in 2005 he rejoined LVMH in the advertising department.
Two years later, he was appointed communications director of Louis Vuitton. In this role, he launched “core values” campaigns, which featured international figures such as Muhammad Ali, Angelina Jolie, Mikhail Gorbachev and Bono.
In 2011, he launched Les Journées Particulières, in which the public is invited to visit LVMH’s production workshops and witness the handcrafted process. The festival takes place across 14 countries and encourages LVMH brands to open their doors to the public. He was appointed president of Loro Piana two years later, after his father bought an 80% stake in the cashmere retailer.
In 2018, he assumed his current role at LVMH and was tasked with managing the iconic fashion house’s image. A year later, after a friend bought Laperouse, a historic restaurant in Paris, Arnault took a minority stake.
Like his sister Delphine and his father, he sits on the board of LVMH. Follow The Wall Street Journalhe is married to Natalia Vodianova, a Russian model and golf enthusiast.
Alexandre Arnault
At the age of 30, Alexandre is fluent in French, English and German, and is vice president at tiffany.
He graduated from Telecom ParisTech and holds a master’s degree in innovation from the École Polytechnique. His digital experience helped the fashion group launch 24 Sevres, its e-commerce platform.
In 2017, he was appointed to lead luxury luggage bag maker Rimowa after LVMH announced it would buy an 80% stake in the company. This acquisition is an important move as Rimowa is the last remaining premium luggage brand in the market after Samsonite acquired Tumi. The brand has influenced LVMH’s digital strategy and collaborations with Supreme, Off-White and Fendi.
In 2019, he took over his father’s chair on the board of directors at CarrefourFrench supermarket chain. Finally, last year, he became executive vice president of product and communications at Tiffany & Co.
In that role, Alexandre began to stir things up with his contemporary and modern approach. Follow The Wall Street Journal, CEO Anthony Ledru has described him as 40% analytical and 60% intuitive, an enterprising person who makes things happen sooner rather than later. Thanks to him, Jay-Z and Beyoncé agreed to do an “About Love” campaign for the jewelry company, which featured a Tiffany blue painting of Basquiat.
In 2021, he married Géraldine Guyot, a young designer. Unions were first organized in Paris and then in Venice. A large ceremony was held and attended by Roger Federer, Pharrell Williams, Carters and Kanye West, who also performed.
Frederic Arnault
Frédéric, 27, is the CEO of TAG Heuer, a luxury watch brand. He studied at École Polytechnique and ran a mobile payments startup with a friend, which they later sold to BNP. He then worked full-time for TAG Heuer as chief digital and strategy officer.
When Frédéric was 25 years old, he was appointed CEO of TAG Heuer, making him the second youngest Arnault to achieve that position after his brother Alexandre. While he’s heavily focused on connected watches, which currently account for 15% of total sales, his main focus is on e-commerce, which grew 329% in 2020. Thanks to him too. with which TAG Heuer enjoys an important partnership with Porsche .
In 2020, he’s in the spotlight after teaming up with Ryan Gosling after taking the helm of TAG Heuer. At first, the partnership seemed unusual because the actor was not on social media and had never advertised a product before. However, Frédéric saw an opportunity and eventually signed a two-year contract with Gosling after a year and a half of negotiations.
Last year, it reported $7.1 billion in revenue from the watch and jewelry sector for the third quarter.
The young businessman’s history with TAG Heuer begins when he was 11 years old and received a TAG Heuer Aquaracer from his father. In 1999, his father bought the brand and it became the most important watch brand in LVMH’s portfolio.
Frédéric is also a man of many talents, playing the piano and tennis, and fluent in English, Italian and German.
Jean Arnault
At the age of 24, Jean is the marketing and development director of the Louis Vuitton watch brand. Louis Vuitton opened a watch factory in 2003.
The youngest Arnault earned a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Imperial College London and financial mathematics from MIT. His interest in watchmaking culminated after his brother Frédéric told him about what he was doing at TAG Heuer and that he attended its watch academy.
Although he is just getting started in the business world, the future is very bright.
Jean said to Financial Times that he sees the great potential of mechanical watches in the digital connected revolution. The more his generation connects their lives to devices, the more they desire something purely mechanical.
