LVMH’s Belloni steps down after 23 years, amidst the luxury group’s reshuffle and longstanding succession suspense

Stephane Bianchi, 59, the current head of LVMH’s watches and jewelry unit, will succeed him, LVMH said in a statement Thursday. Bianchi joined LVMH in 2018 to lead Tag Heuer and the watchmaking unit. He spent a large part of his early professional years at the cosmetics group Yves Rocher, where he became chief executive officer at the age of 33.

Belloni, known as Toni, will give up his roles as group managing director and chairman of the executive committee at LVMH, which is headed by billionaire Bernard Arnault. He will also leave the board after LVMH’s annual general meeting on April 18.

The 69-year-old Italian executive joined the company that owns Louis Vuitton in 2001. He has overseen strategy and operations of the conglomerate’s labels and supervised regional presidents, among other duties. He joined LVMH from the consumer group Procter & Gamble Co., where he held various roles in countries including the US, Greece and Switzerland. 

Arnault has been preparing the next generation of LVMH leaders as some of the group’s most senior executives near the end of their careers. Arnault’s top lieutenants have also played a role in training his five children, who all work at the company.

His eldest, Delphine, 48, runs Christian Dior Couture, Antoine, 46, heads image and communications for LVMH and is non-executive chairman of Loro Piana. Alexandre, 31, is the number 2 at Tiffany & Co, overseeing products and communication, while Frederic, 29, runs the watch division. The youngest, Jean, 25, is in charge of developing Louis Vuitton’s watch category.

Arnault turned 75 this month and the LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE statutes allow him to stay as chief executive officer until he’s 80.

Recently, Arnault also named Michael Burke, 67, to head the LVMH fashion group, which includes labels such as Celine and Loewe. Burke, a loyal lieutenant, took over from Sidney Toledano, 72. The group earlier this month named Pierre-Emmanuel Angeloglou as deputy to Burke, supervising labels such as Fendi, Marc Jacobs and Kenzo, confirming a Bloomberg News report.

Toledano is now an adviser to Arnault, while Belloni will be put in charge of strategic missions for the CEO and will be appointed president of LVMH Italy.