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Two of Bernard Arnault’s children, Frédéric, 29 and Alexandre, 31, were appointed to the LVMH board at the luxury conglomerate’s annual general meeting (AGM) at the Carrousel du Louvre on Thursday. The appointments add administrative roles to their managerial positions (Frédéric Arnault has been LVMH Watches CEO since January and Alexandre Arnault is EVP of product and communications at Tiffany) and bulk up the Arnault family’s representation within the LVMH board.
Shareholders largely approved nominations (approximately 93 per cent of the votes each). Arnault’s two elder children, Delphine Arnault and Antoine Arnault, are already on the board of directors, leaving Jean Arnault, the youngest, the only remaining sibling without a seat. The Arnault family owns 48.6 per cent of LVMH’s share capital and 64.3 per cent of the voting rights. All five Arnault children were in attendance at the AGM.
There’s been much speculation over Bernard Arnault’s succession plan. The chairman and CEO of LVMH who is 75, had his retirement age raised from 75 to 80 in 2022. LVMH is the world’s largest luxury conglomerate generating €86.2 billion in sales in 2023 and has a valuation surpassing €440 billion.
In July 2022, Arnault’s main holding company, Agache, controlling shareholder of Christian Dior SE and LVMH SE, announced a plan to convert into a limited joint-stock partnership — the share capital of which will be held equally between the five children. “The new structure will permit to perpetuate the family control over the long term,” Agache announced in a statement at the time. In December 2022, the eldest son Antoine was appointed CEO and vice chairman of Christian Dior SE.
In January 2023, Delphine was appointed chairman and CEO of Christian Dior Couture.
“The role of the family helps to create this family spirit and enables us to take a long-term view,” Arnault told reporters after the AGM. “Today, the share price is doing well, but what interests us is ensuring that in 10 years’ time, our brands will still be as desirable or even more so than they are now. That’s our objective, not the share price tomorrow morning. Our main indicator is the desirability of the brands in the long term, and I think that family continuity has the advantage of a long-term vision.”
At the meeting, which brings together shareholders, top executives and press once a year to discuss LVMH’s long-term vision and strategies, the luxury titan also talked about the macro environment, plans for the future Louis Vuitton flagship at 103 Avenue des Champs-Elysées, and an intriguing proposal to venture into space.
First, Arnault called out several LVMH brands successes, including those of its two largest: Louis Vuitton “largely passed the €20 billion mark”, pulling off the debut show of men’s creative director Pharrell Williams in 2023 and receiving “over one billion views on social media, which is a record for any fashion show in the luxury sector”, he added; and Dior, which he said had a “strong global presence” with two shows in Mumbai and Mexico City.
Meanwhile, “Celine continues to make strong progress. Celine is chic, hip, sexy fashion for young people even if the prices are what they are and it works. I was in Japan last week with Delphine. I could see that in front of the Celine boutiques, there was an incredible line, up to two hours.”
He also called out Loewe and its creative director Jonathan Anderson, who has been at the house’s creative helm since 2013. “We try to work very closely with designers, with a spirit of cooperation, for a long time — unlike others. We have a constructive collaboration and I would say almost a family collaboration,” he noted.
On Tuesday, LVMH reported its first-quarter results, which revealed luxury’s slowdown following several years of gangbuster growth, with sales in Asia particularly lagging. Japan, meanwhile, was the fastest-growing region with sales up 32 per cent. The rest of Asia declined by 6 per cent, while Europe and the US grew 2 per cent. Arnault remained unfazed. “I think China will succeed in reviving the economy… A number of Chinese customers are buying in Japan, which partly explains the very strong growth in Japan, but what’s interesting is that the United States will bounce back.”
On stage, LVMH image and environment director Antoine, presented a video summarising the Olympics premium partnership and the group’s brands showing up across the event. After Chaumet, Louis Vuitton and Berluti, three other brands — Dior, Moët Hennessy and Sephora — are to unveil their initiatives as part of the partnership.
The group acquired last year the Louis Vuitton building on the Champs-Élysées. The brand is keeping the details of what exactly it has planned for the building under wraps. Arnault dismissed plans to open a Louis Vuitton hotel at the location. “I read everywhere that there will be a hotel. I am not convinced personally,” he said. “It’s going to be the world’s leading luxury goods retail flagship.”
Would LVMH ever enter carmaking, one shareholder asked? “Perhaps one day to equip the leather interior of a very beautiful car,” he said. “I was offered the other day to equip a rocket with Louis Vuitton. Whoever offered me that, offered me to go for a ride in space.” Arnault declined the offer to avoid “unnecessary risks”. Pressed by journalists to reveal if that proposal came from SpaceX founder Elon Musk, Arnault said: “That’s a secret,” still noting that it was to go to Mars.
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