Arnault joins X to deny LVMH family succession rift

Bernard Arnault, the 77-year-old billionaire chairman of LVMH and one of the world's richest people, created an account on X on Monday to share a three-page statement pushing back against reports of a family succession battle at the helm of the French luxury empire.

A Sarcastic Rebuttal

The statement, first published on Sunday by LVMH's press account on X, was reshared by Arnault himself on Monday morning from his newly created profile, which quickly attracted verification and followers including billionaire investor Bill Ackman. By late Monday morning, the post had already garnered 2 million views.spearswms

Arnault's response was directed at a six-part investigative series published last week by Le Monde News Corp ↘ 3.58%, France's most-read national daily, which examined rivalries among Arnault's five children and tensions involving his second wife, Hélène Mercier, and his son-in-law, billionaire Xavier Niel — himself a shareholder in Le Monde's parent group.lemonde+1

"Those who are betting on a rift in a family to sell newspapers will be waiting a long time," Arnault wrote in the statement, according to Spears magazine. He opened with the sardonic line: "So it seems I am the head of the 'last royal family of France,'" and continued in an ironic register throughout, thanking Le Monde for "bringing out the heavy artillery" after six months of reporting.spearswms

Market Impact and Succession Questions

The Le Monde series had immediate financial consequences. LVMH's share price fell 10 percent over the course of a single week following the reports, equating to a loss of nearly €15 billion in market value, according to Spears. The final instalment of the series described succession as the family's "elephant in the room," noting that Arnault "deliberately raised his five children so that each one could potentially succeed him."lemonde+1

Reuters reported that Arnault dismissed media reports of a "bitter succession battle" among his five children. In his statement, Arnault wrote: "At the Arnaults', apparently, people don't discuss things, they plot; they don't deliberate, they compete. In the real world, my children run Houses, build teams, make decisions and — sacrilege — call each other on Sundays."spearswms+1

An Open Question

Despite the denial, the succession question remains unresolved. Arnault has named no successor, though all five of his children work within the group and four sit on the LVMH board. At LVMH's annual general meeting in April, when asked about succession, Arnault noted he had been renewed with 99 percent support the previous year and suggested the shareholder raise the question again "in seven or eight years."spearswms