LVMH’s Bernard Arnault could lead till 85 as company proposes raising CEO age limit

Bernard Arnault, the 76-year-old billionaire founder of LVMH, has said that he could head for nearly another decade the French multinational holding company and conglomerate that specialises in luxury goods.

This is after LVMH said in a filing that it will be seeking to raise the age limit for the CEO and Chairman to 85 from the current 80, according to a Bloomberg report.

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As of now, Arnault who had led the company since 1989, is the world’s fourth-richest person with a net worth of $176 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index which also points out that he is Europe’s richest.

This is not the first time such a proposal to raise the age limit has come. The age limit was raised last in 2022.

This announcement comes at a time when management reshuffles have fueled speculation of Arnault’s succession plans with his five key children who all hold key positions in the business, according to the report.

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The reshuffles include one which happened in November last year involving the return of Alexandre Arnault to LVMH’s Paris headquarters, from Tiffany & Co. in New York.

Meanwhile, Frederic Arnault was announced to lead Italian cashmere brand Loro Piana from June onwards, according to the report.

Before this, he was the managing director of Financiere Agache which is one of the holding companies through which Arnault’s family controls LVMH.

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All of this comes at a time when some of LVMH’s key brands have been struggling amid a wider slowdown in the luxury goods market as consumers have started reineing in their spending after a post-pandemic boom, according to the report.