The Empire Strikes Back

Bernard Arnault wants to remain in charge of LVMH until he is 85. What does this mean for the luxury group's succession plans?

The Style Files is the first to report that Bernard Arnault wants to remain in charge of LVMH until 85—that’s another nine years, folks. Read all about it here.

Plus: LVMH’s former security consultant has been found guilty of using public resources to benefit the luxury group.

AND: A COOL EVENT COMING UP!:

On Thursday, March 13 at 1 p.m. EDT/6 p.m. CET, please join fellow fashion journalist, Substacker and NYT bestselling author

Amy Odell

and me on Substack Live. We’re going to discuss the fall 2025 women’s wear season, Bernard Arnault, Meghan Markle—er, Sussex, and more.

LVMH Chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault.

For the last few years now, the fashion and business press have been following play-by-play the moves Bernard Arnault has made to set up his luxury group, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, for when he retires.

According to Forbes real-time billionaires list, Arnault is currently the fifth richest person in the world—after Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg, and Ellison, respectively—with a total wealth of $174 billion.

Among the companies in his group: Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior fashion houses; Moët et Chandon and Dom Pérignon champagne; Hennessy cognac; Minuty and Whispering Angel rosé wines; Tiffany and Bulgari jewelry; Fenty Beauty by Rihanna; Vuarnet sunglasses; Sephora cosmetics; fifty five-star hotels, including the Copacabana Palace hotel in Rio de Janeiro and the Hotel Cipriani in Venice, where George and Amal Clooney got married; and the Orient Express train.

There has been talk of Arnault splitting up LVMH into multiple companies—fashion and luxury goods; watches and jewelry; hospitality; wines and spirits—and installing some or all of his five children as CEOs of the various divisions.

There’s also been talk that one of his offspring could oversee the whole shebang. Would it be Delphine, daughter with Arnault’s first wife, Anne Dewavrin, and the oldest of the bunch, who turns 50 next month? Or the middle son, Alexandre, the first of his three sons with his second wife, Hélène Mercier, or Alexandre’s next younger brother, Frédéric, since they both attended Arnault’s alma mater, École Polytechnique? Or the youngest, Jean? Antoine, Arnault’s first-born son and Delphine’s full brother, doesn’t seen to be in the running—he’s a communication and marketing guy, not a numbers cruncher.

The Arnault Clan.

This Succession-like set-up is a hot topic at Parisian cocktail and dinner parties and the subject of countless stories in the international media. The intrigue! The maneuvers!

Originally, the handoff was supposed to happen last year, when Arnault turned 75. But he wasn’t ready to retire—like Rupert Murdoch and Warren Buffet, Arnault sees himself as spry and still very much in the game. So he had the company bylaws changed to make LVMH’s mandatory retirement age at 80. Five more years!

This morning, six days after Arnault turned 76, LVMH shareholders received news of his latest plan, and it is not at all what anyone was expecting.