The world’s third-richest man, LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault, is deciding which of his five children will take over the empire.
The company recently increased the age limit for a chief executive officer for Arnault to stay on.
For decades, Arnault, 73, has been in charge of the luxury conglomerate. His fortune is estimated to be $155 billion. LVMH owns the fashion houses Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior and the champagne producer Moёt & Chandon, and the watchmaker TAG Heuer.
Delphine Arnault
The 46-year-old French businesswoman is the Vice President of Louis Vuitton. She studied at the EDHEC Business School in Lille and the London School of Economics.
According to the Financial Times, she began her career as a consultant at McKinsey in Paris, where she learned strategy for two years. She gained fashion industry experience while working at designer John Galliano’s company in 2000, where she assisted in developing the brand.
Between 2001 and 2013, she worked at Christian Dior in the shoe department, eventually rising to deputy managing director for the executive committee.
She has since been promoted to executive vice president of Louis Vuitton, where she oversees the brand’s product-related activities. She has a relaxed management style and prefers to visit the busiest stores.
Antoine Arnault
Antoine, 44, is LVMH’s head of communications and image. He is also the chairman and CEO of Loro Piana and Berluti. The eldest son was appointed as Berluti’s first CEO, transforming the luxury shoemaker into a menswear label.
When he co-founded an internet startup, Arnault was 25 years old and began working in LVMH’s marketing team. After receiving his MBA from Instead, he returned to LVMH in the advertising department in 2005.
He was promoted to director of communications at Louis Vuitton two years later. He oversaw the “core values” campaigns in this capacity, which featured international figures such as Muhammad Ali, Angelina Jolie, Mikhail Gorbachev, and Bono.
In 2018, he was appointed to his current position at LVMH, where he is in charge of the iconic fashion house’s image. After a personal friend purchased Laperouse, a historic Parisian restaurant, Arnault acquired a minority stake a year later.
Alexandre Arnault
Alexandre, 29, is the VP at Tiffany and is fluent in French, English, and German.
He received his bachelor’s degree from Telecom ParisTech and his master’s degree in innovation from École Polytechnique. His digital background aided the fashion conglomerate in the launch of 24 Sevres, its e-commerce platform.
In 2017, he was appointed to lead the luxury luggage bag manufacturer Rimowa after LVMH announced an 80 percent stake in the company. This was a significant acquisition because Rimowa was the last luxury luggage brand left on the market after Samsonite acquired Tumi. The brand impacted LVMH’s digital strategy as well as collaborations with Supreme, Off-White, and Fendi.
In 2019, he took over his father’s seat on the French supermarket chain’s Carrefour board of directors. Finally, he was named executive vice president of product and communications at Tiffany & Co. last year.
Frédéric Arnault
Frédéric, 27, is the CEO of TAG Heuer, a luxury watch brand. He attended École Polytechnique and co-founded a mobile payment startup with a friend, which they later sold to BNP. He then went on to work full-time for TAG Heuer as the director of strategy and digital.
Frédéric Arnault was named CEO of TAG Heuer at the age of 25, making him the second-youngest Arnault to hold that position after his brother Alexandre. While he places a lot of emphasis on connected watches, which now account for 15% of all sales, his main focus is e-commerce, which is expected to grow 329 percent by 2020. It was also thanks to him that TAG Heuer was able to form an essential partnership with Porsche.
Jean Arnault
Jean, who is 23 years old, is the director of marketing and development for Louis Vuitton watches. In 2003, Louis Vuitton opened its first watch factory.
The youngest Arnault earned master’s degrees in mechanical engineering and financial mathematics from Imperial College London. His interest in the watchmaking industry was piqued when his brother Frédéric told him about what he was doing at TAG Heuer, and he attended the label’s watch institute.
Even though he is new to the business world, his prospects are promising.
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