This article was first published in Finansavisen Lördag.
The father became wealthy as a businessman and industrialist with the Ferret-Savinel group after the war. The son wanted to go his own way and bought Christian Dior in 1985 for NOK 150 million. The result, nearly four decades later, is LVMH’s life business – an empire of luxury brands. Frenchman Bernard Arnault is now the richest man in Europe, with a fortune of about 1,300 billion Norwegian kroner.
He also made a vigorous effort arranging the succession. He has five children and all of them are fully employed in the group.
From his first marriage, he has children Antoine, who is president at Berluti and a member of the group’s board of directors, and Delphine, executive vice president of LVMH itself and also a member of the board of directors.
From his second marriage, he has children Alexander, Frederick and Jean. All three of these also have different roles in companies, while it is Frederick who has recently shown himself.
STARTUP: Frederic went to the elite École Polytechnique and tried his hand at becoming an entrepreneur, before becoming president of TAG Heuer in 2020. Photo: NTB
When major newspapers highlight one of the heirs, it is Frederic Arnault who always steals the show. He has persuaded journalists from major international media over the past year because he is fluent in English, Italian and German, in addition to his native language.
Last winter, he sang with his father during the opening of his Louis Vuitton Atelier located in Vendôme, France. The place is a museum or visitor center that showcases the history of the fashion brand. And when the father visited Japan recently, he was accompanied by Frederick at his side. Perhaps he is simply the grandiose prince of Europe to show off.
However, all five children are involved in the major decisions. Once a month everyone is supposed to gather for lunch in Paris for heated discussions.
First Litter: Here is Bernard Arnault with the children he had from his first marriage. On the left is Delphine Arnaud and on the right Antoine Arnaud. Photo: NTB
continuous expansion
It’s the father’s aggressive takeover tactics that created the giant LVMH and the group hasn’t been on the lazy side in recent years. In 2019, LVMH expanded into tourism with the purchase of the Belmond Hotel Group for more than NOK 30 billion. In January last year, they bought the American jewelry brand Tiffany & Co for NOK 16 billion.
After halving the stock price during the financial crisis, LVMH has had a very solid dividend share over 14 years. The share price reached the peak of Corona at more than 700 euros, but fell somewhat to 550 NOK in the past year. At the time of writing, LVMH has a value of €276 billion on the stock exchange, which is about NOK 2,800 billion.
The family will control about 47 percent of this, which explains Bernard Arnault’s valuation at 1,300 billion NOK.
Acting: Frederick participated in a visit to Japan earlier in May. Here, LVMH President for Japan, Norbert Loret, sits with his father and son Arno, waiting for a prominent representative of the host country. Photo: NTB
big success
Frederick went to the elite École Polytechnique and later started a startup developing mobile payments. It was sold after 18 months. Then he began working with strategy at the watch manufacturer.
In June 2020, he became CEO of Tag Heuer International. Manager Stephan Bianchi is said to have been told by Bernard to “say when you think he’s ready to be president”. Or, if he doesn’t turn out to be a leader, “tell me too.”
Bianchi told the press it wasn’t the easiest transition. There must have been a lot of friction at first, but in the end it worked.
Last year, Frederick showed that he does not intend to live behind a stylish front door in Paris. Last year, he personally stood on a red carpet in Beverly Hills and announced the watch manufacturer’s collaboration with actor Ryan Gosling.
He is said to spend four days a week in a hotel in Geneva, where TAG Heuer is based. The other three are in Paris, in a surprisingly modest apartment. Incidentally, he received a TAG Heuer Aquaracer on his eleventh birthday. Big bought TAG Heuer in 1999 and today the brand is the most important watch brand in the LVMH portfolio.
Frederic Arnault has 60,000 followers on Instagram, where he mainly posts promotions for the brand he heads for watches, but also makes a sweet photo with his dad or a moment on the Hollywood red carpet.
Sources: The New York Times, Vogue, The Times and Wikipedia.
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