Last week, LVMH – which includes brands like Louis Vuitton, Dior, Sephora, Veuve Cliquot champagnes, etc. – announced 21 billion euros in sales in this first quarter alone, thanks in particular to its very good sales in Asia and the United States. The announcement of these results immediately caused the stock market to jump.
Today, LVMH is the most valuable company in Europe: its value on the financial markets is estimated at more than 450 billion euros. In rankings such as Forbes, Bernard Arnault, the CEO of LVMH, is also the richest man in the world ahead of Elon Musk, the boss of Tesla and Twitter, knowing that his fortune is essentially based on shares whose value, by definition, evolves according to prices. It is this volatility that meant that in a single day, Monday April 17, the leader’s fortune grew – virtually – by 12 billion euros.
No increase for Bernard Arnault this year
General meetings are the time to validate the remuneration of the bosses. for Bernard Arnault: surprise: he plans not to increase despite the record profits of LVMH. Is this a strategy not to stir up controversy in a tense social period in the country? All inclusive – variable and fixed portion – Bernard Arnault’s compensation amounts to just over three million euros. In other words, twice less than that of Patrick Pouyanné, the CEO of TotalEnergie, and even less than that of the boss of Stellantis, Carlos Tavares, who has just had his shareholders validate 23 million euros in remuneration. The shareholders of LVMH, themselves, pocket in dividends roughly 10% of the added value of the group. A third is distributed to employees, who in France received almost 10,000 euros more last year, in the form of a bonus, profit-sharing, participation.
Thursday, April 13, one of the headquarters of LVMH in Paris was stormed by opponents of pension reform. Bernard Arnault is often singled out for his wealth but also for his closeness to Emmanuel Macron. At 74, the boss recalls that he achieves barely 10% of his turnover in France, while he contributes fully to the French economy, thanks to the factories and sites he has all over the country. territory, to the 40,000 jobs in France, but also by paying more than 2.5 billion in corporate taxes per year.