The Arnault family is the richest in the world, with Forbes valuing their fortune at $233 billion in the 2024 billionaires ranking. Behind this colossal wealth is Bernard Arnault, the world’s richest person, the founder and chair of the most important luxury goods company – LVMH – which owns 75 world-class brands including Louis Vuitton, Dior and Fendi.
[See also: Succession at the House of Arnault: who will wear the crown?]
Bernard Arnault’s wife, Hélène Mercier, and his five children, including two from a previous marriage, all hold important roles in the multinational company, with the four oldest also sitting on the board of directors. Delphine, 49, is the CEO of Christian Dior and director of Louis Vuitton while her brother Antoine, 46, is the head of communications, image and environment for LVMH. Alexandre, 32, is the executive vice president of Tiffany & Co., his younger brother Frédéric, 28, works as the CEO of LVMH’s entire watch section and the youngest, Jean, 26, is the director of marketing and development of Louis Vuitton watches.
All of Bernard Arnault’s children have equal stakes in the company, and the family owns 48.6 percent of LVMH’s capital and 64.3 percent of voting rights. But while all the members of the Arnault family are increasingly gaining power over the family-owned empire, it remains to be seen who of the five children will be chosen to succeed the patriarch.
Who are the members of the Arnault family?
Bernard Arnault
Bernard Arnault was born in the city of Roubaix, northern France, in 1949, where he grew up in an industrial family. After graduating from the prestigious École Polytechnique, the most renowned engineering school in France, Bernard Arnault joined his father’s public work construction company. During his time there, he shifted the company’s focus towards real estate and eventually gathered enough funds to develop his luxury products conglomerate.
In 1984, he began his project by acquiring companies including the then-bankrupt Christian Dior, which he bought for one symbolic euro. He worked with the heads of luxury giants Louis Vuitton and Moët Hennessy and founded LVMH in 1987 by merging the two. Since then, Arnault invested in some of the biggest luxury houses worldwide, adding the likes of Fendi, Bulgari and TAG Heuer to LVMH’s portfolio.
Hélène Mercier
Hélène Mercier is a professional pianist and has been part of the Arnault family since she married Bernard Arnault over 30 years ago. Born in Montreal in 1960, she started playing the piano at age six and pursued her passion while studying at New York’s Juilliard School and the Paris Conservatory. She has performed with prestigious orchestras, including the National Philharmonic of Russia and the Orchestre de Paris.
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Mercier met her husband at a dinner party in 1989, and the two got married two years later after Arnault divorced his first wife Anne Dewavrin. The couple have three children: Alexandre, Fréderic and Jean.
Delphine Arnault
Bernard Arnault and Anne Dewavrin’s first daughter, Delphine, was born in 1975. After studying at the London School of Economics (LSE) and the French EDHEC Business School, Delphine briefly worked at the management consultancy firm McKinsey & Company. She joined LVMH in 2000, where she has since occupied several top managerial positions at Dior and Louis Vuitton. Today, in addition to her seat on the LVMH board, Delphine is the director and executive vice president at Louis Vuitton and the CEO of Christian Dior Couture.
After divorcing her first husband, who was the heir to an Italian wine-making company, she married French billionaire Xavier Niel, who co-owns French newspaper Le Monde, telecoms company Vodafone and the rights to Frank Sinatra’s hit song My Way, among other assets. Arnault and Niel have two children together.
Antoine Arnault
Delphine’s brother Antoine was born in 1977, and like his sister, he pursued business studies. Antoine graduated from HEC Montreal and the Sorbonne’s INSEAD, before joining the advertising department of the family-owned Louis Vuitton. After a number of successful projects earned him a spot on the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders list, Antoine was named CEO of Berluti. He successfully led the fashion company’s growth and is now head of communications, image and environment for LVMH and chairman of holding company Christian Dior SE.
Antoine has two sons with Russian model Natalia Vodianova, whom he married in 2020.
Alexandre Arnault
The first son of Bernard Arnault’s second marriage, Alexandre was born in 1992. He followed his father’s footsteps and went to the same engineering school in France, the École Polytechnique. He made his debut in the family empire as the CEO of luxury luggage maker Rimowa before becoming executive vice president, in charge of product and communications at Tiffany & Co. in 2021. In April 2024, Alexandre joined the LVMH board after a shareholder vote – with the vast majority of vote shares owned by his father.
Alexandre married Geraldine Guyot, the founder of Paris-based fashion house DESTREE in 2021, throwing a ceremony attended by the likes of Beyoncé, Kanye West and Roger Federer.
Fréderic Arnault
Fréderic Arnault was born in 1995 and has followed a similar education to his father and older brother by graduating from the École Polytechnique, before he interned in AI teams at McKinsey and Facebook. After honing his skills in the tech sector, he joined LVMH as head of strategy and digital director of TAG Heuer, then went on to a CEO position for the brand, and was promoted to CEO of the entire watch section of LVMH in January 2024.
Three months later, he was voted alongside his brother Alexandre to the company’s board, which cemented the Arnault siblings’ omnipresence in LVMH’s leadership positions.
Jean Arnault
The youngest son of Bernard Arnault and Hélène Mercier, Jean, was born in 1998. Steering away from his brothers’ paths, he studied financial mathematics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and mechanical engineering at Imperial College London. He went on to join LVMH in 2021 as the director of marketing and development of Louis Vuitton watches, a position he still holds as of May 2024.
Since his brothers Fréderic and Alexandre joined his half-siblings Antoine and Delphine on the LVMH board, Jean is Bernard’s only child not sitting at that table. However, his father suggested it is only an ephemeral situation when he said his son still “has time, he’s young”.
