Tiffany & Co.’s Profits Have Doubled Since LVMH Took Over, Bernard Arnault Says
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Tiffany & Co. is one of the most iconic American brands, but that doesn’t mean it’s always been the most successful, too.
Since acquiring the jeweler a little more than two years ago, LVMH has doubled Tiffany’s profits, Bernard Arnault told The Wall Street Journal on Friday. The chairman and CEO of the luxury conglomerate has worked hard to revamp the brand, installing one of his sons as the executive vice president of product and communications and relaunching the flagship store just this week.
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Arnault was a bit hesitant to take over Tiffany back in 2021, when the pandemic hit the luxury industry—along with all others—quite hard. He tried to back out of the deal, but Tiffany sued and Arnault decided to forge ahead, albeit with a slightly reduced price. At the time, the jeweler’s sales were stagnant, although overall jewelry sales in the industry were doing quite well.
“We bought it after a good five-year sleep,” Arnault told the WSJ. “It was good timing.”
In the past couple of years, Arnault and his team of Tiffany execs have worked to make the brand more appealing to younger consumers, enlisting stars like Beyoncé and Jay-Z to appear in ad campaigns. At the same time, they’ve been making the brand more exclusive, raising the entry price for its jewels and focusing on high jewelry, which typically starts at about $100,000. And while Tiffany doesn’t disclose its financial details, Arnault seems to be saying that his strategy has been working.
Tiffany is just one facet of Arnault’s LVMH empire, which is currently worth about $500 billion and is the most valuable listed company in Europe. His knack for acquiring businesses and making them relevant in today’s cultural landscape has earned him the nickname the “wolf in cashmere”—as well as the title of the world’s richest person.
Now, with the reopening of Tiffany’s Fifth Avenue store, Arnault is gearing up for even more eyes to be on the brand. Analysts estimate that the renovations cost a whopping $500 million, and the flagship features everything from Peter Marino architecture to a Basquiat painting on the ground floor to a Daniel Boulud Blue Box Cafe. Breakfast at Tiffany’s has never sounded sweeter.
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