A family feud at the top of the Lacoste clothing company is pitting father against daughter in a battle for management of the green crocodile brand.
Michel Lacoste, 69, has decided to seek a court ruling against the company board’s nomination of Sophie Lacoste-Dournel as non-executive president, which he told the daily Le Monde was an “irregular” decision “by an irregular board.”
Lacoste told Le Monde that his 36-year-old daughter, who has studied business and loves theatre and acting, “hasn’t spent a day of her life in a business and is not able to manage a successful company.”
He would prefer that his niece, Beryl Lacoste-Hamilton, 56, take over and points out that she has already run several of the company’s licensed affiliates, which sell a wide range of casual clothes.
The Lacoste group declined to comment on the matter when contacted by AFP.
Sophie Lacoste-Dournel was named last Monday by a board elected the same day, which her father claims was stacked against him by a minority shareholder.