LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE
Leadership History
3 leaders · 1987 to present
Bernard Arnault is the CEO of LVMH, in the role since 1989.
| Name | Role | From | To | Years in role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stephane Bianchi | Group Managing Director | 2024 | Present | 2 |
| Bernard Arnault | Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | 1989 | Present | 37 |
| Alain Chevalier | Co-Founder | 1987 | 1989 | 2 |
LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE is the world's largest luxury goods group by revenue. Headquartered on Avenue Montaigne in Paris and listed on Euronext Paris (MC), it owns more than 75 maisons including Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Fendi, Celine, Loewe, Loro Piana, Tiffany & Co., Bvlgari, TAG Heuer, Sephora, DFS, Moet & Chandon, Dom Perignon and Hennessy. Bernard Arnault is Chairman and CEO, and the Arnault family controls the group through Christian Dior SE and family holdings. LVMH reported ~$91.3 billion (EUR 80.8 billion) in 2025 revenue and more than 211,000 employees. The company is headquartered in Paris, France.
LVMH is a holding company for more than 75 maisons grouped into Fashion & Leather Goods, Selective Retailing, Watches & Jewelry, Perfumes & Cosmetics and Wines & Spirits. Each maison keeps its own creative director and brand identity, while the group pools capital, store leases and real estate, media buying, talent and supply-chain resources. Most revenue comes from selling products at full price through LVMH's own network of more than 6,280 stores and e-commerce, plus wholesale for beauty, wine and spirits. Fashion & Leather Goods, led by Louis Vuitton and Dior, produced ~$42.7 billion (EUR 37.8 billion) of 2025 revenue and ~$14.9 billion (EUR 13.2 billion) of profit from recurring operations, about three-quarters of the group total.
Group Managing Director
2024 – Present
2 years (current)
Bianchi was aggressively promoted to manage the entire massive Watches & Jewelry division (including the highly complex integration of the $15.8B Tiffany & Co. acquisition) to directly battle Richemont.
As Group Managing Director, he is widely considered one of Bernard Arnault's most trusted lieutenants, overseeing the operational execution of LVMH's absolute most critical luxury maisons.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
1989 – Present
37 years (current)
Took control of LVMH in 1989, then built it through acquisitions such as Sephora, Bulgari, Loro Piana, Belmond and Tiffany & Co., and through regular creative-director changes at the largest houses, including Jonathan Anderson's appointment at Dior in 2025.
Arnault built LVMH into the largest luxury group by revenue, pairing creative independence at each maison with central financial control. Revenue reached ~$97.4B (EUR 86.2B) in 2023 and ~$91.3B (EUR 80.8B) in 2025.
Co-Founder
1987 – 1989
2 years
Co-founded LVMH.
Alain Chevalier was a co-founder of LVMH. As CEO of Moët Hennessy, he orchestrated the historic 1987 merger with Louis Vuitton (led by Henry Racamier) to prevent takeover threats and create a global luxury conglomerate, before eventually stepping down following the successful hostile takeover by Bernard Arnault.
These officers report to the chief executive and are not part of the CEO timeline above.
LVMH must manage luxury demand cycles, China and travel-retail softness, cognac pressure, creative director turnover, brand overexposure, succession planning, supply-chain traceability, and the risk that aggressive price increases eventually alienate aspirational customers.
Bernard Arnault is the Chairman and CEO of LVMH. An engineer and real estate developer from northern France, Arnault entered luxury in 1984 by acquiring bankrupt textile group Boussac (owner of Christian Dior), orchestrated the merger of Moët Hennessy and Louis Vuitton, and expanded it into the world's premier luxury empire.
Delphine Arnault is Chairman and CEO of Christian Dior Couture; Antoine Arnault oversees image and environment and is CEO of Christian Dior SE; Alexandre Arnault is deputy CEO of Moet Hennessy; Frederic Arnault is CEO of Loro Piana; and Jean Arnault is director of watches at Louis Vuitton.
LVMH was formed in June 1987 through the merger orchestrated by Alain Chevalier (Chairman of Moët Hennessy) and Henry Racamier (President of Louis Vuitton). Subsequent leadership battles led to Bernard Arnault acquiring control and becoming Chairman and CEO in January 1989.
Antonio Belloni was Group Managing Director from 2001 to 2024 and now chairs LVMH Italy. Stephane Bianchi succeeded him in 2024. Other senior executives include Pietro Beccari (CEO of Louis Vuitton), Jean-Jacques Guiony (CEO of Moet Hennessy) and CFO Cecile Cabanis.
LVMH raised the CEO age limit from 75 to 80 in 2022 and from 80 to 85 at the April 2025 shareholder meeting, allowing Bernard Arnault (born 1949) to remain CEO until 2034.
Arnault converted the family holding Agache into a partnership limited by shares controlled by his five children, with rules restricting the sale of shares outside the family for 30 years.
Arnault's management philosophy requires a star brand to be timeless, modern, fast-growing, and highly profitable. He insists on complete creative freedom for artistic directors combined with uncompromising corporate financial discipline.
Bernard Arnault holds the Grand Cross of France's Legion of Honour and is an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire. He has ranked among the world's richest people on Forbes for several years, though his fortune fell with LVMH shares in 2026.
Bernard Arnault serves as CEO and Chairman, holding absolute, iron-fisted control over the empire he built. He is famously known as the "Wolf in Cashmere" for his ruthless M&A tactics. Currently, the entire global financial world is obsessively watching a real-life "Succession" drama unfold, as Arnault meticulously tests his five children (Delphine, Antoine, Alexandre, Frédéric, and Jean)—who all hold massive executive roles—to determine who will inherit the empire.
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