FRANCE – LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, commonly known as LVMH, a French multinational holding and conglomerate specializing in luxury goods, has appointed Stephanie Bianchi as the groups managing director to replace Toni Belloni who will be stepping down from the position.
In a statement, LVMH said Belloni, who had been MD since 2001, had decided to “relinquish his duties” in the role and as chairman of the company’s executive committee.
Bianchi will chair the group’s executive committee, and, alongside LVMH chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault, take up strategic and operational supervision of its labels, LVMH said.
Bianchi, a retail executive, joined LVMH in 2018 and has moved up quickly through the ranks. He started out as chief executive of watch label Tag Heuer and the watchmaking division of the company. Two years later, his division was enlarged to encompass jewellery, and now includes Tiffany & Co.
In his current role, Bianchi oversees Bernard Arnault’s sons Frederic Arnault, CEO of LVMH watches, and Alexandre Arnault, executive vice president in charge of product and communications at Tiffany.
Bianchi said: “I am honoured by the confidence granted by Mr. Arnault, to contribute more widely, in the continuity of Toni’s action and with all the LVMH teams, to always and relentlessly strengthen the success of our group.”
Belloni will remain at the group, in charge of strategic missions for Bernard Arnault and president of LVMH Italy.
“I would like to thank Toni for his exceptional contribution over the last few years. He will remain at my side to pursue strategic missions and oversee our activities in Italy”, said Bernard Arnault, Chairman and CEO of the LVMH Group.
Belloni said, “We have achieved excellent results, always respecting our values and supporting numerous initiatives for the benefit of the greatest number of people. It is now up to Stéphane to take us even further.”
In 2023, LVMH reported a 13 percent organic increase in revenue amounting to €86.2bn (US$93.63bn).
Operational profits also recorded an 8 percent increase standing at €22.8 billion (US24.67B), with group’s share of net profit surging 8 percent to €15 billion (US$16.23B).
However, the revenue from LVMH’s wine and spirits division fell 7 percent to €7.1 billion (7.68B) and was down 4 percent organically.
The company pointed to a “particularly high basis of comparison” with 2022. It also cited “a transitional year for Cognac after two years of strong growth”.
LVMH also said that it would nominate Wei Sun Christianson, a former Morgan Stanley executive with extensive experience in China, to the board of directors at its annual general meeting on April 18.
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