LVMH siblings vie against each other to succeed father
France's richest man, Bernard Arnault, is pitting his son and his daughter against each other
Two years ago, Bernard Arnault asked his son Antoine to run shoemaker Berluti, then this month he installed his daughter, Delphine, as executive vice-president of Louis Vuitton. While her brief is to revive the handbag maker and Antoine's task is to transform Berluti into a menswear titan, Arnault is auditioning both for another job: his own.
At 64, the chief executive of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, already qualifies for his state pension. He has not signalled he is tiring of running the world's largest luxury-goods company, but "at some point there is an element of succession that needs to take place", said Berenberg analyst John Guy. Giving his children greater responsibility allows Arnault to test them, Guy said.
Antoine is more extrovert. Delphine is more introvert
Arnault knows a thing or two about fomenting rivalries. He was invited into LVMH in the 1980s by Henry Racamier, an heir to Vuitton, who was feuding with another faction in the company. Arnault helped Racamier see off his rival, then ousted Racamier and took over the bag maker.
This time, France's wealthiest man - who has built LVMH into a luxury behemoth offering more than 60 brands from Krug champagne to Tag Heuer watches - is pitting members of his family against one another. Arnault, who controls 46.5 per cent of LVMH voting rights, has said he expects a relative to replace him.
Delphine, 38, is shaping up as the more likely successor, according to Luca Solca, an analyst at Exane BNP Paribas. While Berluti is important, it's less so than Vuitton, which accounts for more than half of LVMH's €5.9 billion (HK$61.9 billion) profit, Solca said.
Her appointment at the handbag maker, which stages its women's fashion show this week, is "a huge endorsement" for the top job, the analyst said.