Le Monde’s major investigation into Bernard Arnault’s empire

Paris. It took a veteran of French journalism like Raphaëlle Bacqué, a long-standing contributor to Le Monde, to lift the veil on the unspeakable secrets of the Arnaults, “France’s last royal family”, as she describes them in her six-part in-depth investigation co-authored with Vanessa Schneider. An investigation centred on Bernard Arnault, head of LVMH, a global luxury empire comprising 75 brands (Louis Vuitton, Dior, Bulgari, Loro Piana, Moët & Chandon champagnes, the Sephora chain…), which reveals a reality very very from the image of unity the group has always sought to project: behind the official photographs, the meticulously controlled communications and the narrative of meritocracy, rivalries, mistrust and constant competition emerge amongst the five children of ‘Monsieur Bernard’ – Delphine, Antoine, Alexandre, Frédéric and Jean – all of whom hold top positions and are all, at least potentially, candidates to inherit their father’s legacy.

Arnault has been preparing the succession for years, nurturing Delphine, Antoine and Alexandre, Frédéric and Jean within the group and entrusting them with ever-greater responsibilities: Delphine is CEO of Christian Dior Couture, Antoine serves as chairman of Berluti and Loro Piana, Alexandre is executive vice-president of Moët Hennessy, Frédéric is CEO of LVMH’s watch division, and Jean, the youngest, is watch director at Louis Vuitton. It is precisely this model, however, that is said to have gradually fuelled a silent war. In an organisation where every appointment is interpreted as a clue to the founder’s intentions, any promotion takes on the significance of an investiture. Yet the issue of succession remains a taboo subject. Last year, LVMH raised the age limit for holding the positions of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer to 85, and in April, according to Le Monde, Bernard Arnault, aged 77, is reported to have addressed his five children in these terms: “Stop fighting over my seat; prove your worth first – I’m still here.” And to dispel any doubts, he is said to have made it clear at the group’s annual general meeting that the question of his replacement would not arise for “seven or eight years”.

Le Monde’s investigation, the result of six months’ work and countless interviews with LVMH staff and executives, as well as members of the Arnault family (including Mr Bernard), also opens a Pandora’s box regarding the strained relations between the two children from his first marriage, Delphine and Antoine, and their father’s second wife, the Canadian pianist Hélène Mercier. ‘Anyone “betting on a family rift to sell newspapers (…) will have a long wait ahead of them”’, Bernard Arnault responded in a letter published on X by LVMH’s press office, in which he sarcastically attacks the newspaper, which, in his view, had brought out the ‘heavy artillery’ to publish nothing more than a ‘tabloid’ piece against him. The LVMH headquarters is described as a court, with rituals, hierarchies and extremely strict etiquette, where employees must address family members using formal titles, no one is allowed to be overweight, and even the choice of a tie may be corrected before meeting the boss. “The best solution would be to choose an executive from outside the family as his successor.” This is the phrase, writes Le Monde, that is being heard more and more often in business circles, which fear a bloody conflict upon the patriarch’s death.