Bernard Arnault Plans to Appoint Two More of His Sons to the LVMH Board

Tori Latham
·2 min read
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Bernard Arnault’s succession plan may not be any clearer, but the billionaire CEO of LVMH is making some familial moves at his company.

Arnault is set to put two more of his sons on the board of his French conglomerate, Bloomberg reported on Monday. Alexandre, 31, and Frédéric, 29, could be nominated as early as this week, an anonymous source familiar with the matter told the outlet. A vote would then occur at LVMH’s annual general meeting in April. (A spokesperson for the company declined to comment to Bloomberg.)

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Already, two of Arnault’s other children sit on the board: Both Delphine and Antoine, the two oldest kids, became board members before they turned 30. Delphine, 48, is now the CEO of Dior, the second-largest fashion label in the LVMH family. Antoine, 46, is in charge of the entire conglomerate’s image and communications arm.

The rest of Arnault’s five children also hold roles within LVMH: Alexandre is currently the head of product and communications at Tiffany & Co.; Frédéric runs the watch unit, including Hublot, Zenith, and TAG Heuer; and Jean, 25, is leading efforts to expand Louis Vuitton’s watch offerings. In all, the family holds about 48 percent of LVMH shares and almost 64 percent of voting rights.

Over the years, Arnault has been expanding his family’s hold on LVMH, involving his children in various aspects of the company so that one day they can take over. Back in 2022, Arnault lifted the age limit for the CEO of LVMH to 80, and given that he’s just 74, any succession plans may take years to bear out. But he’s made it clear that he wants his kids to one day run the massive empire he’s created. So far, though, that hasn’t led to any Succession-style antics, with the Arnault children saying that they get along extremely well.

Whoever does end up taking Arnault’s place will have big shoes to fill. The Frenchman is currently the third-wealthiest person in the world, with a net worth of $161 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. And LVMH last year became the first-ever $500 billion company in Europe. That sort of status and responsibility may scare off some people. But the Arnaults have demonstrated that they’re much more than just “some people.”

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