“I heard that the Olympic Organizing Committee is working very hard these days.”
Earlier this year, news broke that the Paris 2024 Olympic Organizing Committee was working hard to enlist a “mogul” as an Olympic partner. This is the story of Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy ( LVMH ) , a world-class luxury brand group that goes beyond France . The organizing committee would have expected that the Olympics would become a ‘luxury Olympics’ if LVMH took over as a partner. However, for LVMH, which already has a solid status as a luxury player, wouldn’t it be cumbersome to dip its feet into the Olympics? Breaking these expectations, the organizing committee last month, one year ahead of the Olympics, announced that “ LVMH will participate as a premium partner.” In this process, it was evaluated that the power of LVMH was proven again in the French political and business circles.
Even in Korea, where Louis Vuitton bags are considered a must-have, there are few people who don’t know about LVMH . Recently, Frédéric Arnault, who has recently been rumored to be dating BLACKPINK Lisa, is known to be a candidate for the successor of LVMH , and even the LVMH family is attracting attention in Korea.
Increased sales by 25 times in 33 yearsBased in Paris, France, LVMH has 75 brands, including fashion, jewelry, watches, perfume and champagne. Louis Vuitton, a fashion company founded in 1854, and Moët Hennessy, a liquor company founded in 1971, merged in 1987. Tiffany, Christian Dior, Fendi, Givenchy, Celine, and Bulgari, which are popular in Korea, are all under this umbrella. LVMH also owns a subsidiary of the media company Les Echoes-Le Parisiens Group.
Chairman Bernard Arnault (74), who built a huge luxury empire, raised LVMH ‘s sales from 3.2 billion euros (approximately 4.7 trillion won) in 1989 to 79.2 billion euros (115.7 trillion won) last year. This means that sales have increased 25 times in 33 years of establishment. In particular, last year, sales increased significantly due to ‘retaliation consumption’, in which consumption that had been suppressed after the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19) exploded.
As the value of the company increased, Chairman Arno surpassed Tesla CEO Elon Musk last year to become the world’s richest person. According to Forbes’ Billionaire Report, his total wealth as of October last year was $211 billion (about 280 trillion won).
The people who move LVMH are a daughter and four sons from Arnault’s two marriages. His eldest daughter, Delphine, 48, is CEO of Christian Dior스포츠토토 , and his second, Antoine, 45, is Christian Dior SE.’s CEO , and the third, Alexandre (30), is the vice president of Tiffany. The fourth, Frederic (28), who gave birth to dating rumors with Lisa, is the CEO of Tag Heuer , and the youngest, Jean (24), is an executive at Louis Vuitton.
●“A state within a state”This luxury mogul is also a big hand in French politics. The French daily Le Monde recently introduced a close relationship with President Emmanuel Macron, saying “ LVMH is a state within a state” in a special article about the company’s influence . According to Le Monde, the Macron couple participated in the opening ceremony of the Samaritan department store in Paris, which was renovated on June 21, 2021, and it was the first time a sitting French president attended the opening ceremony of a department store. President Macron praised “ LVMH is a French genius” at this meeting. The LVMH
family also participated in the ceremony of Mrs. Brigitte, the wife of President Macron, drawing attention. Arnault’s family often attends events sponsored by Brigitte’s sponsored children’s hospital. A photo taken by President Macron at a Blackpink concert held in Paris in January of this year became a hot topic when a son of Arnault posted it on social media.
Taxes, ‘push and hold’ with the government over the OlympicsThe luxury mogul and the government continue to ‘pull and hold’ in a warm bond. It is known that Arnault expressed his discomfort when Budget Minister Gabriel Attal described the rich as “tax evaders.” Transport Minister Clement Bonn also offended LVMH by proposing a tax on private jets. Later, at a dinner party in Paris, he tried to avoid confrontation with Frederic, the fourth member of the Arnaud family, saying, “I didn’t mention the rich.” LVMH ‘s political influence is so great that ministers are paying attention.
Even in the process of the government recruiting LVMH as a partner for the Paris 2024 Olympics , tensions between the Elysée Palace and the LVMH family were tense. When President Macron ridiculed high-profit companies on local broadcaster TF1 in March this year, Chairman Arnault reportedly stopped talking to the Olympic organizers for a time. After such a battle of nerves, Arnault eventually accepted the partner request and said, “It was the only thing I had to give up,” Le Monde said.
Chairman Arnault also showed interest in Korean companies, which are hot in France as K-content is popular these days. He is said to have discussed open innovation plans with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, which participated in ‘Viva Tech’, France’s largest startup fair held in Paris this June. Attention is focusing on what kind of synergy LVMH will create with Korean companies.
