LVMH's Arnault tightens family grip as daughter becomes Dior CEO

PARIS: LVMH Chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault tightened his family's grip on the luxury goods empire on Wednesday (Jan 11), putting his daughter Delphine in charge of one of its leading labels, Christian Dior, in a management revamp.

The world's largest luxury group also replaced long-time Louis Vuitton CEO Michael Burke with Pietro Beccari, head of Dior since 2018.

"Both are well respected; logical promotions within the group," said Credit Suisse analyst Natasha Brilliant.

Delphine, 47, has worked at Louis Vuitton for the past decade alongside Burke and previously spent a dozen years at Dior.

Burke will continue to work with Bernard, the company said in a statement.

The move follows the recent appointment of Antoine Arnault, Bernard's eldest son, to head the family holding company, replacing veteran executive Sidney Toledano.

The tightening of the family's hold on its empire also comes amid a wave of high-profile successions in other fashion companies in Europe.

Bernard, 73, has shown no signs he plans to step down soon and the company last year raised the maximum age of its CEO from 75 to 80.

Delphine and Antoine, 45, are his children from his first marriage.

Alexandre Arnault, 30, is an executive at Tiffany & Co, while Frederic Arnault, 28, is CEO of TAG Heuer - both LVMH brands. The youngest child, Jean Arnault, 24, heads marketing and product development for Louis Vuitton's watches division.

As part of the management changes announced on Wednesday, the company is also folding Tiffany into the watches and jewellery division, under management of Stephane Bianchi. 

Bernard - who with his family now tops the wealth of Elon Musk - gradually built LVMH into a global luxury empire by buying up iconic brands, sealing his reputation as a formidable and insatiable businessman.