Bernard Arnault, Europe's richest person, appoints son to deputy CEO role at division of LVMH amid leadership shake-up

• Alexandre Arnault will become the new deputy CEO of Moët Hennessy in 2025.
• The appointment is part of a leadership shake-up at Bernard Arnault's luxury conglomerate, LVMH.
• All five of Bernard's children work under LVMH, sparking speculation about his succession plans.

A leadership shake-up at Bernard Arnault's multibillion-dollar luxury conglomerate, LVMH, has resulted in one of his children landing a new executive position.

LVMH said in a press release on Thursday that it made six new executive appointments after Bernard, 75, consulted with the company's Sustainability and Governance Committee of the Board of Directors.

Bernard, the CEO and chairman of LVMH, is Europe's richest person. Bloomberg estimates he's currently worth $165 billion. All five of his children hold positions in LVMH, which has several subsidiaries, including Christian Dior and Tag Heuer.

Bernard's third-eldest child, Alexandre Arnault, will serve as the deputy CEO of LVMH's Wines and Spirits division, Moët Hennessy, starting in February 2025. Alexandre is currently the executive vice president of product and communications at Tiffany & Co., which LVMH acquired in 2021.

He will work alongside executive committee member Jean-Jacques Guiony, who LVMH said has been appointed as the president and CEO of Moët Hennessy.

Representatives for LVMH, Arnault, and Guiony did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

Bernard's decision to move Alexandre to Moët Hennessy isn't unusual for the billionaire, who has made similar appointments for his other children this year.

In April, Bernard said two of his sons — Alexandre and Frédéric — would join LVMH's board. Four of his five children now sit on the board.

His eldest child, Delphine Arnault, is CEO and chairman of Christian Dior Couture and has been on the board since 2003. Antoine Arnault, LVMH's image and environment director, joined the board in 2006. Antoine is also the chairman and CEO of Christian Dior SE.

Frédéric is the chairman and CEO of LVMH watches. He was named head of one of the holding companies that controls LVMH in June.

The only child not on the board is Jean Arnault, the youngest son. Jean is the director of LVMH's watch division.

The new appointments also drum up speculation about who will succeed Bernard as LVMH's CEO.

The Arnault family has been compared to the Roy family, the subjects of the HBO drama, "Succession."

Bernard has denied reports that his family resembles the Roy family's cut-throat battle for the top.

"The best person inside the family or outside the family should be one day my successor," Bernard told The New York Times in 2023. "But it's not something that I hope is a duel for the near future."

Correction: November 14, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misstated how wealthy Bernard Arnault is. He is the richest person in Europe, not in the world. It also misstated Alexandre Arnault's future role in the company. He will be the deputy CEO of Moët Hennessy, not the CEO.