PARIS – Bernard Arnault cautioned on Thursday that the ongoing conflict in the Middle East poses a significant threat, potentially leading to a “catastrophe” for the global economy this year if a swift resolution is not achieved.
Speaking at LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton’s annual general meeting in Paris, the chairman and chief executive officer of the French luxury conglomerate stated that near-term forecasts were impossible due to the uncertain outcome of peace talks between the United States and Iran.
However, Arnault expressed optimism for midterm growth, dismissing speculation about his succession by affirming his intention to remain at the helm of the group for at least another “seven or eight years.”
“In the short term, it has not escaped your attention that the world is now in a fairly serious crisis in the Middle East,” Arnault told the assembly.
“It all depends on how this crisis plays out. Either it will be a global catastrophe, so to speak, with extremely serious and highly negative economic impacts, and if that’s the case, who can say how 2026 will unfold?” he questioned. “Or it will be resolved more quickly somehow, as we all hope — even if it doesn’t look easy. And in that case, business will gradually return to normal. At any rate, it’s quite unpredictable. If the second scenario is confirmed, I think growth in our various activities will resume. If not, we will be faced with a crisis. It won’t be the first, and chances are we will continue to gain market share, as we did in 2025,” he added.
LVMH reported a 5.9 percent fall in revenues on a reported basis in the first quarter, though organic growth rose 1 percent. The Middle East conflict was cited as having capsized a “positive start to the year” in that luxury-loving region, which contributes approximately 6 percent of its business. The conflict had a negative 1 percent impact on the group’s organic growth.
Facing near-term volatility, the luxury magnate emphasized his preference for looking further ahead, highlighting LVMH’s long-term planning for decades as a family-run group.
“What excites, motivates and entertains me is what the group will look like, and how will it be positioned, in five years’ time,” he explained. “I think we’re very well placed to remain by far the leader in the luxury sector.”
He lauded the strong uptake for Jonathan Anderson’s inaugural collection as creative director of Dior, a flagship brand within the LVMH empire, which encompasses around 75 brands including Louis Vuitton, Sephora, Moët & Chandon, and Tiffany & Co.
“It’s off to a flying start, so much so that we’re having trouble delivering products because demand is so high,” Arnault noted.
Meanwhile, he mentioned a waiting list “in the thousands” for Vuitton’s P9 bag, launched by menswear creative director Pharrell Williams. The brand recently rolled out a dedicated advertising campaign for the style, featuring personal items inside the bags of brand ambassadors such as Jeremy Allen White, LeBron James, and Jackson Wang.
“We’re producing it as fast as we can, with artisans who each work on one product. It takes time,” Arnault said, remarks seemingly positioning Vuitton in a similar exclusive bracket to Hermès, known for its ultra-exclusive French leather goods.
The executive also reiterated his ambitions for Tiffany, aiming for it to surpass Cartier, owned by Compagnie Financière Richemont, as the global market leader. “We should aim for Tiffany to be the number-one jewelry brand in the world in five years. We’re not far, but we’re not there yet. In five years, however, I think we can achieve it,” he stated.
“In sum, this is why I’m very confident about the prospects for our group over the next five years, and why, when the share price is falling, as it has been recently, I buy them back,” Arnault remarked wryly. “In business, you must always be patient.”
With LVMH shares having tumbled over 25 percent since the start of the year, the Arnault family has continued its purchases, recently crossing the 50 percent ownership threshold in the group. Chief financial officer Cécile Cabanis reported that the family acquired shares worth 1.6 billion euros in 2025 and 1 billion euros so far this year.
An upbeat Arnault addressed shareholder questions ranging from prospects in China to the sensitive issue of succession, amidst renewed speculation of dissent among his five children, often compared to the HBO series “Succession.”
For the first time, all five children — Delphine Arnault, chairman and CEO of Christian Dior Couture; Antoine Arnault, director of image and environment at LVMH; Alexandre Arnault, deputy CEO of Moët Hennessy; Frédéric Arnault, CEO of Loro Piana; and Jean Arnault, watch director at Louis Vuitton — took the microphone to speak to shareholders.
“You saw the children. Do they seem very ambitious? I don’t know. That’s up to you to say,” the 77-year-old patriarch said ironically in response to a question. He highlighted that shareholders last year approved a resolution by over 99 percent, allowing him to remain in his post until the age of 85. “Let’s talk about it again in seven or eight years, shall we?”
Antoine Arnault’s appointment to the executive committee in February alongside his sister Delphine was seen as bolstering the standing of the two elder siblings, born from Arnault’s first marriage with Anne Dewavrin. The three younger brothers are from his union with Canadian pianist Hélène Mercier-Arnault.
In recent interviews promoting her new album, Mercier-Arnault sought to quell talk of a family feud, though her remarks inadvertently fueled further scrutiny of the succession issue, with analysts increasingly calling for clarity.
Asked by WWD on the sidelines of the meeting what should be inferred from his children each taking their turn to speak, Arnault responded: “Nothing. It’s because I have a very good relationship with my shareholders, and my shareholders are kept informed of the activities of each one of them, who focus on a specific area and are all five, as you can tell, very good at what they do.”
Delphine Arnault described Anderson’s arrival last year as a “cultural revolution” at Dior, while Alexandre Arnault identified the African continent as a huge potential market for wines and spirits, which saw the sharpest decline in revenues of any business group last year. He had just returned from South Africa, which he noted was the third-largest market for Hennessy cognac after China and the United States.
Bernard Arnault also expressed confidence in LVMH’s position to capitalize on a recovery in Chinese luxury demand. “It’s the second largest market after the United States, therefore I remain confident and not too worried about the evolution of this market, where prospects remain great for our group,” he said.
He mentioned Vuitton’s boat-shaped flagship in Shanghai, opened last year, attracts 100,000 visitors a week.
“It’s quite amazing. I’ve been there several times, and was even congratulated by the general secretary of the [Chinese] Communist Party. That would never have happened in France. Can you imagine if we tried to build a Vuitton ship on Place de la Concorde?” he mused. “There, we got it done in less than a year. It also shows how dynamic other countries where we operate are, compared to the heaviness of our old Europe, which is very slow to pick up and modernize, always tangled up in red tape, which can be hellish,” he lamented.
Among LVMH’s upcoming projects are Dior flagships in Osaka and Milan. Arnault stated the group is also considering a Cheval Blanc hotel in Florida with an “incredible architect,” and denied reports of a potential sale of La Samaritaine department store in Paris. “We’re going to make it work because until now, it’s been a little weak,” he pledged.
On a lighter note, he pointed to his watch, a Louis Vuitton Tambour Einstein Automata featuring a reproduction of a famous photo of Albert Einstein. “You press a button that sets off this incredible mechanism where Einstein pulls his tongue. I’ll show this to the administrators at the board meeting later,” he concluded with a smile.
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