Strategic reshuffle for luxury giant LVMH

A wind of change is blowing through the luxury goods giant LVMH, which announced a series of new management appointments on Thursday. Alexandre Arnault, son of Bernard Arnault and executive vice-president of Tiffany & Co, has been appointed deputy CEO of the Wines and Spirits division. Maud Alvarez Pereyre, previously Director of Talent and Group Transformation, becomes the new Director of Human Resources, following the recent dismissal of Chantal Gaemperle.

This dismissal appears to be one of the factors behind this wave of changes. According to the media outlet ‘La lettre’, Chantal Gaemperle's departure after 17 years in her post followed an internal investigation conducted by members of the legal affairs department over a period of several months. The investigation targeted the benefits in kind received by the director from several of the luxury group's companies.

Cécile Cabanis, former CFO of Danone and Deputy CEO of Tikehau Capital, has been added to the list. She takes up the post of CFO after being appointed Deputy CFO last June. She succeeds Jean-Jacques Guiony, who is taking charge of the Wines and Spirits division. For the past 21 years, LVMH's top financier has accompanied the global luxury giant through every stage of its development, seeing it grow into the huge conglomerate of 75 houses it is today. Philippe Schaus, the CEO of the Wines and Spirits division, has been dismissed after eight years of loyal service, but he will continue to share his expertise with the new team, which will be put in place in the first half of next year.

These new appointments also concern the Hennessy brand: Charles Delapalme becomes the new CEO, succeeding Laurent Boillot. LVMH has not yet specified the new functions envisaged for Boillot.

The governance of the Arnault family's group has undergone a number of changes in recent months, since the retirement of one of its emblematic figures: Chris de Lapuente, CEO of the ‘selective distribution’ division, which includes Sephora, Le Bon Marché, la Samaritaine and LVMH's ‘duty free’ distribution. Early next year will also see the appointment of the new President of Sephora, Guillaume Motte.

In October, LVMH denied another report by the investigative media ‘La Lettre’, referring to the fall in sales of the wines and spirits division in China and the United States, which would have triggered the intention of a reshuffle at the head of this branch. The luxury goods empire showed some initial bearish signals when it published its results for the third quarter of 2024 last October. The wines and spirits business was particularly hard hit, recording an 8% fall in sales, caused, among other things, by difficulties over customs duties in China. The appointment of Jean-Jacques Guiony as its new CEO is a strong response from the Group, which hopes to win back market share.