LVMH billionaire Bernard Arnault receives Malcolm S. Forbes Lifetime Achievement Award

Billionaires

Bernard Arnault, chairman and CEO of LVMH Group, received the Malcolm S. Forbes Lifetime Achievement Award at the Forbes Global CEO Conference 2024 on Wednesday in Bangkok.
Bernard Arnault (middle) receives the Malcolm S. Forbes Lifetime Achievement Award from Christopher Forbes (left), vice-chairman of Forbes Media, and Steve Forbes (right), chairman and editor-in-chief of Forbes Media.

Bernard Arnault (middle) receives the Malcolm S. Forbes Lifetime Achievement Award from Christopher Forbes (left), vice-chairman of Forbes Media, and Steve Forbes (right), chairman and editor-in-chief of Forbes Media.

Courtesy of Forbes Asia

The award recognizes a lifetime of achievement and is a celebration of the global business success bestowed upon an individual who embodies and exemplifies the ideals of entrepreneurship championed by the late Malcolm S. Forbes, the legendary publisher of Forbes.

A civil engineer by training, Arnault went on to parlay a small fortune from his family’s construction business in northern France into a multibillion dollar global fashion empire. With a net worth of $156 billion, Arnault is the world’s fifth-richest person, according to Forbes’ real-time data.

Arnault created LVMH to become the world’s largest luxury conglomerate by market cap ($312 billion) with a portfolio of over 75 luxury brands including flagship Louis Vuitton and Moet Hennessy. The French tycoon got his start with the acquisition of Christian Dior in 1984 and over four decades stitched together a series of deals under LVMH, the largest of which was the $15.8 billion acquisition of American jeweler Tiffany & Co. in 2021.

“There was nothing in his background to suggest he would revolutionize the luxury industry. But great insights and innovations often come from outsiders, who see what others missed,” Steve Forbes, chairman and editor-in-chief of Forbes Media, said as he presented the award to Arnault. “When Bernard Arnault learned Christian Dior, the crown jewel of French luxury, was buried in a family textile conglomerate, he recognized the opportunity that others missed. He saw the foundation of something extraordinary.”

LVMH, which operates over 6,000 stores globally and employs more than 200,000 people, saw net profit rise 8% last year to 14.1 billion euros ($15 billion) on 86.2 billion euros in revenue fueled by strong growth across its business divisions including fragrances and makeup.

“We are not aiming for short term profit growth, we say in the company that profitability is a consequence,” Arnault, 75, said in his acceptance speech. “What we want is to do the most beautiful products of the highest level of quality as possible.”

Arnault first expanded LVMH’s global footprint to China in the 1990s, where increasing spending power translated into exponential sales growth. The region is now the biggest market for the company, accounting for about 34% of group sales in 2023, followed by the U.S. with 26%.

Apart from scaling up LVMH into a global fashion house, Arnault has also been investing in technology companies in recent years. His holding company Agache backs venture capital firm Aglaé Ventures, which has investments in businesses such as Netflix and ByteDance.

Reflecting his belief that active participation of the controlling shareholders’ family in the business provides stability and continuity, Arnault’s five children all work at LVMH.

Bernard Arnault by Jamel Toppin-34469

Bernard Arnault, Chairman and CEO, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, photographed by Jamel Toppin for Forbes in September 2019.

Jamel Toppin/The Forbes Collection;

“An active shareholding family is an incredible asset for a company: it provides stability, continuity in strategic options, constant control in execution, and long-term projection,” Arnault said.

Arnault’s eldest daughter, Delphine, 49, is chairman and CEO of Christian Dior Couture, the group’s second-biggest brand by sales after Louis Vuitton. Antoine, 47, is in charge of image and environment across the group and is also vice chairman and chief executive of holding company Christian Dior SE through which the family controls LVMH.

Earlier in November, Alexandre, 32, was appointed deputy chief executive Moet Hennessy, after spending four years as a senior executive at New York-based Tiffany & Co, where he was credited with refreshing the jewelry brand. Frédéric, 29, heads one of the family’s main holding companies, Financière Agache, which controls LVMH, while Jean, 26, runs watchmaking at Louis Vuitton.

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