World's richest man and LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault is conducting Succession IRL
According to recent reports by the Wall Street Journal, Bernard Arnault, the world's richest person, has been grooming his children to take over his luxury conglomerate, Möet Hennesy Louis Vuitton (LVMH), that feels awfully reminiscent of a certain HBO drama series.
The French billionaire frequently convenes his four sons and daughter for a 90-minute lunch in a private dining room at LVMH's headquarters, where he seeks their opinions on topics that are prepared beforehand.
HBO’s Emmy-winning drama, Succession, depicts a wealthy media mogul and his four children vying for control of their family's media conglomerate, Waystar Royco. Like Logan Roy from Succession; Arnault, the patriarch; is grooming his children to take over the family business, providing an intriguing real-life parallel to the themes explored in the HBO series.
During these monthly sessions, Arnault evaluates his adult children's capabilities, effectively auditioning them to see who will succeed him as chief executive and chairman of the $480-billion empire that includes luxury brands like Louis Vuitton, Dior, Tiffany, Bulgari, and Sephora.
This is reminiscent of the Roy family's internal power dynamics, where each child is constantly vying for their father's approval and attempting to prove their worthiness to take over the family business.
However, this move to elevate his children has also amplified a long-standing predicament, namely, who will succeed Arnault as the head of the world's largest luxury conglomerate. Arnault has built LVMH through a combination of killer instinct and finesse, acquiring rival firms while also nurturing generations of fashion designers. Such success has earned him the nickname, "Wolf in Cashmere."
Although Arnault has stated that his successor will be chosen on merit, he has not disclosed who this individual will be.
Nonetheless, his children hold critical positions within LVMH.
- Delphine, his eldest child and only daughter, leads the second-largest brand in the empire, Christian Dior.
- Meanwhile, Antoine manages the holding firm that oversees LVMH and the family's fortune.
- Frederic Arnault is the CEO of TAG Heuer, Alexandre Arnault is an executive at Tiffany,
- and Jean Arnault oversees marketing and product development for Louis Vuitton's watch department.
His monthly sessions with his children are part of his long-term plan to prepare them to take over LVMH after him. These meetings, coupled with his recent decision to raise the retirement age of LVMH's chairman and CEO to 80, indicate that Arnault is preparing for a smooth transition of power.
Arnault's statement that his successor will be chosen on merit is a nod to the importance of competence and leadership ability in running a successful business. In Succession, the Roy family's power struggles are often driven by personal ambition and ego rather than merit; highlighting the dangers of nepotism and the importance of choosing a leader based on their abilities rather than their family ties.
As Arnault grooms his children to take over his luxury conglomerate, he's essentially conducting Succession in real life. And while the Roys may be a fascinating fictional family to watch, Arnault's actual succession plan will have real-world consequences for LVMH and the fashion industry as a whole.