Bernard Arnault plans to nominate two of his sons to the board of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, because the French billionaire continues to groom his kids to doubtlessly lead the posh empire he based.
Arnault’s nomination of sons Alexandre, 31, and Frederic, 29, might come as early as this week, an individual aware of the matter mentioned, confirming a report from on-line publication La Lettre. LVMH is because of announce annual outcomes on Thursday.
The board nominations would then be topic to a vote on the firm’s annual normal assembly in April. A spokesman for LVMH declined to remark.
The appointments would underscore the household’s agency grip on LVMH. Arnault and his household personal about 48% of LVMH shares and almost 64% of voting rights.
Arnault, 74, is the world’s third-wealthiest individual, with a fortune of about $161 billion in line with the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He’s been grooming his kids in a wide range of roles on the firm as he develops a succession plan.
All 5 of Arnault’s kids work on the agency. Delphine, 48, is chief govt officer of Christian Dior Couture, the group’s second-biggest style label after Louis Vuitton. She’s the one Arnault baby to at the moment sit on LVMH’s govt committee.
Antoine Arnault, 46, is answerable for LVMH’s picture and communications and is a non-executive chairman of cashmere specialist Loro Piana, which belongs to the corporate. He’s additionally vice chairman and CEO of Christian Dior SE, the holding firm via which the Arnault household controls LVMH. Each Delphine and Antoine turned board members earlier than the age of 30.
The billionaire founder’s three youngest sons got here through his second marriage, to Canadian live performance pianist Helene Mercier. Alexandre has overseen product and communications at Tiffany & Co. for the previous three years whereas Frederic runs the group’s watch unit, which incorporates labels reminiscent of Hublot, Tag Heuer and Zenith. Jean, 25, is in control of creating Louis Vuitton’s watch class.
In 2022, Arnault lifted the age restrict for his CEO function to 80. LVMH final week introduced that his shut lieutenant Sidney Toledano, 72, will step down from the chief committee.