Bernard Arnault Sets Up LVMH With Succession Plan: World's 2nd-Richest Person Gives Control To His Five Kids For The Next 30 Years

In a move that looks like an episode of "Succession," the world's second-richest man recently structured his business to allow his family to manage it for the next 30 years. 

Bernard Arnault, worth $173.1 billion dollars, according to the Forbes Real-Time Billionaire List on Oct. 27, recently created a limited partnership called Financière Agache to control his LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH) high-fashion empire. 

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In a recent report from Italy's Il Sole 24 Ore newspaper via Fashion United, future control of the company shifted to a holding company called Financière Agache. Under this structure, the company features general partners, management authority and limited partners with economic rights. The chiildren of Arnault's late sister Dominique Watine-Arnault, who died in 2006, are Ludovic Watine, 42, and Stéphanie Watine, 33. They control 19% of Agache and will receive economic benefits but do not hold managerial power over the company. 

Arnault divided control of Agache Commandité among his five children. Agache Commandité is the group of general partners who have management power over the company. For the next 30 years, they cannot sell shares, which ensures long-time control for the Arnault family. At 74, Arnault is still the director of the company and has unlimited power until he reaches 95. 

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The billionaire's children who will manage the LVMH partnership all work for one of the conglomerate's brands. Delphine Arnault, 48, is CEO of Dior; Antoine Arnault, 46, is vice chairman and former CEO of Dior; Alexandre Arnault, 31, former CEO of luggage brand Rimowa, works at Tiffany & Co.; Frédéric Arnault, 27, is CEO of watch brand Tag Heuer; and Jean Arnault, 25, is marketing and product development director of watches for Louis Vuitton.

LVMH is one of the largest and most influential fashion brand conglomerates in the world. The luxury company recently reported 10% growth in the past nine months on sales of €62.205 billion ($65.81 billion). It also noted organic revenue growth of 14% for the nine months ending fiscal 2023 and 9% in the third quarter of the year. 

LVMH includes a number of family-founded luxury brands that have long kept the Arnault family at the top of the fashion world. The brands include Louis Vuitton, Dior, Tiffany & Co., Celine and Loewe. Under Bernard Arnault's leadership, LVMH developed into a global powerhouse in the luxury industry, renowned for its innovation and craftsmanship. He is also a keen investor. Groupe Arnault invested in Netflix Inc. in 1999, Spotify Technology in 2014 and Airbnb Inc. in 2015. Through the venture capital firm Aglaé Ventures, backed by Groupe Arnault, he has led investments into firms including TikTok parent company ByteDance Ltd. Lyft Inc. and Databricks Inc.

In recent years, the luxury fashion industry has seen a significant focus on securing the futures of family-controlled empires, especially as billionaire founders age. The Armanis, Fendis and Ferragamos are examples of families that created and continue to run family-controlled high-fashion brands.

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