Is 85 the new 65? Bernard Arnault, CEO and chairman of the French luxury conglomerate LVMH, sure hopes so. The 76-year-old billionaire is once again asking shareholders to extend his impending retirement. A proposal to amend LVMH’s bylaws and raise the age limit of its CEO and chairman positions from 80 to 85 will be heard during the conglomerate’s annual meeting on April 17, according to company documents. This isn’t the first time Arnault, who has led LVMH for some 35 years, has attempted to prolong his time in power—back in 2022, he successfully raised the company’s CEO retirement age from 75 to 80.
LVMH owns brands like Louis Vuitton, Dior (CHDRY) and Tiffany & Co. Last year, the group raked in nearly 85 billion euros ($92.8 billion) in revenue. Arnault, currently the world’s fifth richest person with an estimated net worth of $170.9 billion, has remained tight-lipped over which of his five children will take the reins once he finally steps down.
Arnault’s four sons and one daughter all currently hold roles within their father’s luxury empire. His eldest child, Antoine, serves as head of communication and image at LVMH, while Delphine is CEO and chairman of Christian Dior Couture. Frédéric, meanwhile, was recently named CEO of the cashmere brand Loro Piana. Alexandre and Jean work as head of Moët Hennessy and director of watches at Louis Vuitton, respectively.
Warren Buffett and Bill Gates also support late retirement
The LVMH leader has previously found support in his bucking of traditional retirement ages from the likes of Warren Buffett, who is turning 95 this year. After initially raising his retirement age to 80 three years ago, the French billionaire reportedly received a letter from Buffett saying the new limit was still too low.
Buffett, who has run Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) for 60 years, has long praised the seniority of his older executives. During Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting in 2024, he quipped that “anybody who wants to retire at 65 would be disqualified from being CEO of Berkshire.” The investor’s thoughts on retirement are admired by fellow billionaire Bill Gates, who is currently 69 years old and last year stated that he’d like to follow Buffett’s lead and continue working for two to three more decades.
Such approaches contrast the standard retirement age of 65 in the U.S.—an age that Larry Fink, chairman of BlackRock, thinks should be increased. In a 2024 investor letter that pointed to the increased strain of America’s Social Security Administration amid a rise in retired citizens, Fink noted that it’s a “bit crazy” that the U.S. still abides by a retirement age that originates from the time of the Ottoman Empire.
Similar financial issues are underway in France, which recently saw French President Emmanuel Macron raise the country’s retirement age from 62 to 64 to allow pension systems to keep up with its retirees. French citizens, however, don’t appear to share Arnault’s sentiments around extending retirement. They quickly took aim at billionaires like the LVMH head, arguing they should shoulder some of the responsibility for financing pensions. The protests culminated in more than 100 French workers storming LVMH’s Paris headquarters in April 2023.
