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The chairman of the world’s largest luxury conglomerate meticulously groomed all five of his children to succeed him. Yet, by placing each of them at the helm of LVMH's key pillars, he turned his own offspring into bitter rivals—putting both family unity and the future of his business at risk, Le Monde reports.

They show up almost simultaneously—arriving with that barely noticeable one-minute delay their father taught them as children, a subtle power move designed to signal immediate dominance. Their facial expressions are polite yet tense: all five seem to be asking themselves the same question—what are they doing here, sitting together in front of Le Monde journalists? This staged tableau was the brainchild of Bernard Arnault himself, a calculated attempt to project "family unity" to the public.

Delphine, Antoine, Alexandre, Frédéric, and Jean all hold senior executive roles within LVMH. Uniformly trim, impeccably dressed, sharing the same piercing blue eyes and perfect smiles—the product of years of orthodontia—the heirs awkwardly take their seats around the oval table. The refined breakfast treats remain untouched; they restrict themselves to just a few sips of tea and coffee. Asceticism runs in the Arnault blood, and their lean frames make it clear that no member of this family allows themselves the slightest indulgence.

Just days before this meeting, Bernard Arnault had given his children an unforgettable jolt. A mere hour and a half before the annual shareholders' meeting, he called each of them in sequence to drop a bombshell: the pre-approved agenda was canceled. To "demonstrate unity" before investors, each of the five heirs would have to take the stage and deliver a three-minute presentation on the brands under their charge.

Frédéric was the first to answer—his father’s spitting image, a Polytechnique graduate, an accomplished pianist, and a coldly rational executive. A wave of panic instantly swept through the family. "I was sitting with a friend and literally turned pale," Alexandre recalls. "We started frantically calling each other." "Try to convince him to change his mind!" Delphine pleaded with her brother Antoine—the only one who didn't lose his composure, as his role as Head of Communications and Image already required him to take the podium. But Bernard Arnault was unyielding.

In the end, before a room of stunned senior executives, Delphine, Alexandre, Frédéric, and Jean took turns stepping onto the stage at the Carrousel du Louvre to read hastily scribbled bullet points. The scene was deeply uncomfortable for everyone involved. Brand CEOs had to listen in silence as the young heirs—formally still their subordinates—delivered their talks, while the five siblings were once again relegated to the humiliating status of schoolchildren being publicly disciplined by a stern father. The patriarch's message was unmissable: "Stop dividing up my chair. First prove what you’re capable of. I’m not going anywhere yet." To drive the point home, the billionaire declared from the stage that his retirement was off the table for at least the next "seven or eight years."

Delphine’s Rising Sun

"I woke up in the middle of the night and thought, 'This is starting to annoy me, it’s time to put an end to it,'" Bernard Arnault explained to us a few days later in the anteroom of his office.

For months, the press and private industry newsletters had been eagerly dissecting the internal family friction, mapping out the balance of power ahead of the inevitable succession. At our meeting, the heirs tried their hardest to pretend their father had acted appropriately in putting them in their place. "There are no issues between us," Antoine insists. "These are minor operational moments blown out of proportion by journalists." Yet this polished corporate rhetoric arrived far too late: the cracks within the Arnault clan had long been public knowledge.

Five years ago, we interviewed the family in a starkly different context. Back then, Bernard Arnault was just establishing a training system for his children, tasking top executives with mentoring the potential successors. The eldest daughter, Delphine, seemed resigned to the traditional female role in business dynasties: quietly working alongside fashion house designers without claiming ultimate power. Antoine oversaw PR, gradually shedding his former playboy reputation. Aware that children from different marriages are a potential breeding ground for conflict, their father made the older siblings godparents to their younger brothers (spanning an age gap of 15 to 23 years), hoping to tie the family together.

In 2021, while Alexandre and Frédéric were just beginning to flex their ambitions, Delphine and Antoine gently reminded them of their lack of experience. The youngest, Jean, was still finishing his studies, having yet to complete the mandatory LVMH "boot camp."

Since then, the balance of power has shifted dramatically. In 2023, 51-year-old Delphine took the helm at Christian Dior Couture—one of the most prestigious and coveted posts in the empire, and one her younger brother Alexandre had been eyeing.

Her relationship with billionaire Xavier Niel (co-owner of Le Monde media group and father of her two children) also changed the rules of the game. Delphine no longer looks like an underdog out of the running. Niel’s influence in the real estate market—he proudly refers to himself as Paris’s largest private landlord—made him both a partner and a rival to his father-in-law in the hunt for prime real estate. Niel’s connections with global tech leaders irritate Alexandre Arnault, who long considered himself the family's chief innovation expert. Finally, Niel, well-connected within the highest echelons of politics and business, loses no opportunity to praise Delphine’s management talents—driving her younger brothers to distraction.

Delphine’s appointment to Dior raised quiet murmurs, but early 2026 brought a fresh blow to the younger siblings: 49-year-old Antoine joined the Executive Committee (Comex)—the holy of holies of LVMH's governance structure. Antoine had deftly staked his claim on strategic future pillars: the ESG agenda, LVMH’s integration into the Paris 2024 Olympics (for which he was the chief architect), and the acquisition of Paris FC. Controlling the group’s PR department and media assets, he speaks with his father daily—their offices situated just a few meters apart.

34-year-old Alexandre, whose towering height immediately grabs attention in family photos, was long considered a press favorite due to his energy and network. However, a string of setbacks followed. His work in the US revamping Tiffany & Co. met with mixed reviews within the group. Insiders criticized him for failing to grasp American aesthetics and launching a costly campaign with Jay-Z and Beyoncé that missed its target audience.

Furthermore, his appetite for the high life, social media visibility, and a lavish wedding in Venice cause irritation within a family that values discretion. Alexandre has developed a reputation for arrogance, though no one denies his sharp intellect and knack for networking.

Despite his youth, Alexandre dreamed of taking over Dior, leading to a tense confrontation with his sister. Delphine had to remind her brother that she was nearly twenty years his senior with vastly more experience in the fashion industry. Ultimately, their father dispatched Alexandre to restore his footing at the Moët Hennessy wine and spirits division—a prestigious post, albeit one where delivering stellar results is challenging amid a global slump in premium alcohol sales.

31-year-old Frédéric was long considered the frontrunner in this race. Observers noted his remarkable intellect and mathematical mind. After successfully leading watch brand TAG Heuer, he took charge of Loro Piana in 2025 to immerse himself in the world of high fashion. When the brand’s Italian contractors came under investigation over illegal labor practices, Frédéric displayed icy composure and technically resolved the crisis.

However, despite being flawless on paper, the young executive earned a reputation as a cold, rigid communicator, casting doubt on his leadership qualities. Heavily influenced by his mother, Hélène, Frédéric is convinced that LVMH’s PR team—controlled by Antoine—is behind his negative media portrayal. In a direct sign of distrust toward his older brother, Frédéric hired an external PR agency for himself.

Finally, 28-year-old Jean oversees Louis Vuitton’s watch division. While his business segment currently makes a modest contribution to the group’s overall revenue, Jean makes an excellent impression. Being the youngest has shielded him from intense pressure. Thanks to an easygoing nature and natural charm, he gets along with everyone and stays well clear of internal family feuds. Given his age, the older siblings do not yet view him as a serious contender for the throne.

Scandals, the Mother-in-Law, and the "Devil"

While the children's ambitions and rivalries are standard fare for major dynasties, the real poison injected into the empire’s veins stems from an escalating war between Bernard Arnault’s second wife, Hélène, and the children from his first marriage.

Maintaining harmony in a blended family is no easy feat. When the Hennessy family (heirs to the famous cognac house) introduced Bernard Arnault to Canadian pianist Hélène Mercier, events unfolded rapidly.

"He wanted children; we got married in ten minutes—Bernard didn't like wasting time," Hélène told Le Monde, showing photos from a modest wedding in Châteauneuf-de-Grasse. The witnesses were merely her brother, and on the groom's side, his sister Dominique and his trusted long-time lawyer, Pierre Godé.

Hélène insists that when living in Paris, she had no idea who Bernard Arnault was: "He took me out to lunch at a Dior restaurant, and I thought: what am I doing here? Power doesn't interest me at all; I don't find it sexy," the 60-year-old pianist laughs.

At the time of their father's second marriage, Delphine and Antoine were teenagers. Their mother, Anne Dewavrin, took the divorce hard. Bernard Arnault bought his ex-wife a residence right next to his own mansion—where he moved in with his new bride—promising his children they could drop by whenever they wished.

However, when a young Delphine came to visit her father shortly after the birth of her half-brother Alexandre, the new mistress of the house gave her a icy reception. Pointing to Delphine's belongings lined up on the porch, Hélène declared that Delphine's bedroom now belonged to baby Alexandre, as it was the most comfortable room in the house. She added that future visits would require advance notice—a slight Delphine has never forgotten.

The older children spent every other weekend and part of their holidays with their father. While they formed warm bonds with their younger brothers, their relationship with their stepmother never materialized. According to sources close to the family, Hélène did everything to push them out of their father's life. "She acted as if we didn't exist," Antoine shared with friends. The second wife could not stomach her husband's closeness with his eldest daughter and viscerally detested any mention of his "past life." If anyone so much as uttered Anne Dewavrin’s name, Hélène would rise from the table in irritation.

Since 2023, this simmering conflict has erupted into open warfare. Hélène developed a deep hatred for Delphine’s partner, Xavier Niel, publicly referring to him as "the devil."

"He is completely wrong for our family," Hélène snaps with a sneer. "At the dinner table, all he talks about is billions. He has an unhealthy obsession with power. He never became part of this family."

She is convinced that Niel aggressively dominates Delphine, spreads rumors, and uses his media connections to tarnish her own sons. In response, Niel, Delphine, and Antoine simply roll their eyes, telling acquaintances that their stepmother has lost touch with reality.

Hélène has convinced herself that Niel dreams of taking LVMH private. Even though the legal structure created by Bernard Arnault in 2022 makes a corporate takeover by any outsider (including spouses) legally impossible, this does little to appease Hélène.

The hostility toward her billionaire son-in-law reached a fever pitch: Niel was banned from family gatherings and Christmas dinners, and his name was stricken from the guest list when Bernard Arnault received the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor at the Élysée Palace. Niel gives as good as he gets, reportedly taking pleasure in showing his mother-in-law's furious text messages to his acquaintances.

Initially, the head of LVMH was also wary of Niel—an entrepreneur with a colorful past who started out in adult chat rooms and even spent a month in remand prison in 2004. Over time, however, the LVMH founder found common ground with his daughter’s partner: after all, they always have plenty to discuss, from macroeconomics to political insider gossip.

Beyond Niel, Hélène also set her sights on Antoine. While she once claimed on camera that she treated him "like her own son," she now openly criticizes him: "Antoine does a poor job of protecting his father; he shouldn't have been in charge of group PR at all." On one occasion, while Antoine was playing tennis with his brother, he received a blatantly rude text message from his stepmother regarding yet another media article. Upon returning home, Antoine simply blocked her number. They have not spoken in two years and cross paths exclusively at official events.

This family venom might have remained behind closed doors had Hélène not embarked on a promotional tour for her new music album. Unaccustomed to media interviews, the pianist delivered a series of jaw-dropping statements on radio and TV: ranging from assertions that homeless people live on the street "by choice," to expressing sympathy for far-left politician Jean-Luc Mélenchon (whom Bernard Arnault genuinely despises).

Caught in the crossfire, Bernard Arnault himself appears bewildered. He begs his children to "stop the rumors," but to no avail: the conflict has gone too far. The billionaire, who genuinely detests confrontation, tries to maintain neutrality. Nevertheless, he technically pinned the blame for his wife's public missteps on Louis Jublin—the former PR advisor to ex-Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who was brought in to assist Hélène by her son Frédéric. "It’s either Jublin or me!" the group chief fumed. Hélène herself merely smiles: "Bernard didn't say anything to me—on the contrary, he gave me gifts."

Stables, Favorites, and the Throne

Hélène insists she isn't pushing her sons forward: "Now that they work at the company, I don't interfere. My role is to remind them that having your father as your boss isn't entirely normal, and they have every right to tell him to 'piss off.'"

However, they are far from doing so. Everyone close to the family agrees: not one of the children would dare defy their father's will, to whom they owe everything. "We were incredibly fortunate to grow up inside the group thanks to our father. Nowhere else would we have been given such roles at our age," Jean candidly admits. "To prove our right to be here, we have to work harder than anyone else," Frédéric adds.

Do they realize that their father, by embedding a dynastic model and grooming them for competition from childhood, planted the seeds of conflict himself? As a hyper-rational man, France's richest individual simply couldn't envision any other scenario. Just as his own father used to take a young Bernard to the family company's construction sites, Arnault dragged his children through the empire’s boutiques from an early age and took them on overseas business trips. He personally monitored their studies and found a purpose for every single one.

Five children was the ideal number for a monarch: how could one fail to find a gem among them? And with an odd number, three could always form a majority to support the strongest candidate—or so it long seemed to the patriarch.

"The LVMH system is a meritocracy, and that rule applies to my children," Bernard Arnault insists to us. "You cannot rise at LVMH unless you deliver results."

Yet fierce corporate competition, when mapped onto family ties, proves destructive.

The current infighting is already causing real damage to the conglomerate. Investors and top executives nervously watch the family saga unfold, creating uncertainty around the group's future leadership. Furthermore, distinct factions have begun forming within LVMH. Brand CEOs realize that key decisions are made during Bernard Arnault's monthly family lunches with his children.

"Stables" of senior executives are forming around each heir, anxiously trying to guess which horse to back. LVMH Deputy CEO Stéphane Bianchi is considered Frédéric's patron, while Head of Fashion Pietro Beccari enjoys the unwavering support of the elders, Delphine and Antoine.

An attempt by Antoine and Frédéric to unite the family around the purchase of Paris FC failed to achieve its intended effect. Out of the five, only Antoine and Alexandre genuinely love football. The club, backed by a massive budget, could not dispel mutual suspicions: today, every move, every executive appointment, and every spoken word is viewed by the heirs strictly through the lens of their personal struggle for power.

For the first time in the group's history, senior executives are openly questioning Arnault's dynastic concept altogether.

"The best decision after Bernard’s departure would be appointing an outsider at the helm, someone not from the family," business circles in Paris increasingly whisper, fearing a bloody war of succession after the patriarch's passing.

Bernard Arnault pauses for a moment: "We can always choose someone from inside the family or from the outside." Then he adds, as if unable to accept any alternative: "But it is better if it is someone from the family."

Even if it means destroying that family in the process.

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