Arnault Insures LVMH vs Future Family Feuds

Bernard Arnault has begun succession planning.

Photo Insert: A Louis Vuitton storefront in New York City

On Thursday, the fashion king announced that Agache, the holding company that owns 48 percent of French luxury and drinks conglomerate LVMH and 63 percent of its voting rights, will become a limited liability joint-stock partnership, a structure that will give his five children control for decades, according to Pierre Briancon of Reuters Breakingviews late on July 22, 2022.

Arnault, 73, persuaded the owners of his 318 billion euro luxury conglomerate earlier this year to raise his retirement age to 80. He is not wasting time and is putting plans in place to prevent a crippling internecine war from erupting in his dominion once he is gone.

His children are currently working their way up the corporate ladder, and no one has emerged as the heir apparent. When the time comes, they must all agree on a successor.

What happens if they don't? For the next 30 years, shares in Agache's controlling structure cannot be sold. Arnault may have imprisoned his children in a Sartrian hell, where hell is other siblings.

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