They are among the richest people on the planet, but this year the CEOs of the French groups LVMH, L’Oréal and Kering collectively lost $70 billion on the stock market, indicates the Bloomberg index, due to a decline in sales. global luxury goods companies. However, an improvement is already perceptible for 2025.
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In 2023, it was a double blow for France: Bernard Arnault, CEO of the world’s number one luxury brand LVMH, and Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, heiress of L’Orealwere with their family, the richest man and woman in the world, a “first”, according to the Forbes annual ranking for 2023, published at the beginning of April 4.
This year, Bernard Arnault is no longer the richest billionaire in the world but the fifth. Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, for a long time the richest woman on the planet, is no longer so and Francois Pinault lost two thirds of his fortune in one year.
Their respective groups, LVMH, L’Oréal and Kering were the biggest losers on the Paris stock exchange in 2024. A historic setback for the three French luxury billionaires, after the three years of consumer euphoria which followed the restrictions during COVID-related lockdowns.
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But purchases of perfumes, champagne and fashion items have declined sharply this year in China (despite a trip of Bernard Arnault in 2023) and in the United States. Gucci, Kering’s flagship brand, has also experienced management problems. Investors have also fled the French financial center and the political instability of France. Only Hermès, only positioned at the very high end, did well (+18%).
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The worst seems to be over, the sector is regaining some of its luster with a 5% increase in the shares of French groups in December. For 2025, experts anticipate a stabilization of the consumption of luxury products in China and a post-election rebound in the United States.
Paris: elected officials file an appeal against the giant LVMH trunk on the Champs-Elysées
This week, elected Parisian environmentalists asked the mayor of Paris to withdraw the authorization granted to the luxury group LVMH to dress the facade of one of its buildings on the Champs-Elysées with a giant metal trunk, emblematic of the Louis Vuitton brand. With two associations, they sent a formal appeal to the socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo, arguing that the covering of the facade is in reality disguised advertising. This is a first step before possible referral to administrative justice.
Classified as a historic monument, the large building on Avenue des Champs-Elysées is to house a new 6,000 m2 LVMH flagship store, as well as a hotel, a spa, a restaurant and art galleries.
Installed in the fall of 2023 parallel to the facade of the building and lit at night, the shimmering steel and wood trunk, symbol of the history of the famous leather goods manufacturer Louis Vuitton, faces the flagship boutique of the luxury group and encroaches on two adjacent streets. The officials in charge of heritage and town planning have given their agreement to its implementation.
“ This is not the first time that this company has benefited from a little too favorable treatment by the city of Paris. LVMH is neither below nor above the laws “, declared the elected environmentalist Emile Meunier in a press release. “ Paris is not for sale! », Judged Christine Nédélec, president of the heritage defense association SOS Paris.
(AFP)