LVMH: Alexandre and Frédéric Arnault to join the group's board of directors

By

Olivier Guyot

Published
January 27, 2024

On the sidelines of the presentation of its 2023 results, LVMH announced that two of Bernard Arnault's sons, Alexandre, 31, and Frédéric, 29, would be proposed for election to the Board of Directors at the group's next AGM in April, confirming press indiscretions. They will join the billionaire's two eldest children, Antoine and Delphine, who joined at the same age as their brothers.

Jean, the youngest of five siblings, remains the only one not to sit on the board of directors. "He has time, he's young", replied Bernard Arnault, when questioned by the press on the sidelines of the results. "In today's France, it's more likely to be around thirty," he added with a smile, alluding to the age of the new Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, 34.

"When you join LVMH, you join a family," asserted Bernard Arnault, 74, stressing that the arrival of his sons on the board of directors "rejuvenates the management team, even if I have no plans to leave in the short or medium term, I'm here for a while yet."

Henri de Castries, 69, former CEO of insurer Axa and current Chairman of Institut Montaigne, is also expected to join the Board.

Nicolas Bazire, who has been "loyal to Bernard Arnault for twenty-five years," will not be renewing his term of office on the board. Charles de Croisset, a businessman and industrialist, and Yves-Thibault de Silguy, an enarque and former managing director of international affairs for the Suez group, will also be leaving the board of the luxury giant after some fifteen years at the table.

The group's sixteen-member board is chaired by Bernard Arnault, with Antonio Belloni as deputy CEO.

In mid-January, two other loyal followers of the CEO announced that they would be handing over the reins on February 1. Michael Burke, 66, an adviser to Bernard Arnault since 2023 after ten years as CEO of Louis Vuitton, has been appointed CEO of LVMH Fashion Group, a division which brings together several LVMH brands (Celine, Givenchy, Loewe, Kenzo, etc.). He succeeds Sidney Toledano, 72, who, after twenty years at the head of Dior, had held the position since 2018 and has been appointed adviser to Bernard Arnault.

With AFP