Bernard Arnault, the French billionaire, CEO and president of LVMH, has just been confirmed at the head of the largest luxury brand in the world for the next 10 years.
The shareholders voted last month to modify its statutes, increasing the retirement age for its CEO to 85, handing over to Arnault the reins for a better part of the next decade.
With a personal fortune of around 150 billion dollars, Arnault has been the only president of LVMH since 1989. He is also the majority shareholder of the luxury conglomerate, which he controls with his five children, who all occupy management positions.
Renowned for his skills in terms of achievement, Arnault looked at the contract of his life in 1984. In the midst of the thirties and after only a few years of work in the real estate activities of his family, he acquired for a single symbolic franc the Boussac Saint-Frères Conglomerat, mother company of Christian Dior, then on the verge of bankruptcy. Arnault quickly dismantled it, keeping only the Dior brand. Three years later, he signed up with Luis Vuitton and Moët Hennessy to join the two companies, thus co-founding LVMH. He took control of the company in a few months and took unique leadership in early 1989.
Thanks to a long series of strategic transactions and acquisitions, Arnault has built the most powerful multinational in luxury retail and the largest in market capitalization. This is currently worth some $ 364 billion, his empire not only includes fashion but also wine and spirits, watches, hotels and jewelry. Most of the famous LVMH fashion brands, such as Celine, Kenzo, Fendi, Dkny and Marc Jacobs, were acquired in the early 90s. The company then extended to the jewelry sector, first with the buyout of Bulgari of Italy for $ 5.2 billion in 2011, then with the purchase of the American jeweler Tiffany for $ 16 billion 2021.
The Arnault family currently holds 49% of LVMH share capital and 64.8% of voting rights. With the recent approval of the amendment of regulations, it seems that his collection of vegetable brands will remain in the family in the foreseeable future.
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