Will Delphine Arnault inherit LVMH from billionaire dad Bernard? Meet the daughter of the world’s second richest man after Jeff Bezos, and owner of Louis Vuitton

Jun 25 , 2021

Delphine Arnault, daughter of the world’s second richest man Bernard and on the board of the luxury conglomerate LVMH. Photo: @CaterBrian/Twitter

She discovered Raf Simmons (now at Prada), LV’s Nicolas Ghesquière and Marine Serre, popular with celebrities such as Blackpink, Beyoncé, Kylie Jenner and Adele

She worked for McKinsey & Co and John Galliano, was married to Italian wine heir Alessandro Vallarino Gancia and now is with tech entrepreneur Xavier Niel

When it comes to the fashion industry, no family is as powerful as the Arnaults, whose patriarch, Bernard Arnault, is the second wealthiest man in the world after Jeff Bezos, as per Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires List at the time of writing. The family controls Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH), a luxury goods conglomerate present in the fashion, perfumes and cosmetics, wines and spirits, and watches and jewellery industries, among others.

A Louis Vuitton logo outside the brand’s store in Hong Kong’s Tsim Sha Tsui shopping district in 2013. Photo: Reuters

While the multibillion-dollar conglomerate is still helmed by Bernard, he gets plenty of help from his family, among them daughter Delphine Arnault, who currently sits on the executive committee of LVMH and is one of two heirs-apparent (the other being her younger brother Antoine) to LVMH.

So what do we know about the luxury heiress?

She was a consultant for McKinsey & Co and worked for John Galliano

Delphine Arnault, director and executive vice-president of LVMH. Photo: @pop_abe/Instagram

Delphine, 46, graduated from the prominent EDHEC Business School in Lille, France, and the London School of Economics. Before taking on a role in the family business, she worked for two years at international consulting firm McKinsey & Co in Paris.

On joining LVMH she took on a development director role under designer John Galliano. After one year, she was appointed as deputy managing director of Christian Dior Couture.

She has a knack for spotting talent