Lvmh Ceo’s New Pr Strategy: Sarcastic Tweets

After France’s biggest newspaper published a sweeping exposé of the country’s richest person, he told his PR team “hold my Hennessey” and fired off his first-ever X post.

The (typically offline) head of fashion juggernaut LVMH Bernard Arnault posted an open letter on X this week accusing Le Monde of distortions in its recent deep dive into the $260+ billion luxury empire run by what the newspaper called “France’s last royal family.” Among other things, Le Monde’s reporting claimed that the 77-year-old billionaire actively influences editorial choices at the publications he owns and that his five children are locked in an intrigue-fueled power struggle to replace him.

Posting through it

Arnault accused Le Monde of sensationalism to sell newspapers, rejected the claims about his family, and scoffed at its descriptions of the atmosphere at LVMH:

• Arnault mocked the insinuation that LVMH doesn’t hire overweight employees, saying he’ll “raise the matter with the company canteen.”
• He denied that visitors to the company’s HQ have their ties confiscated if they’re from rival Hermès, saying he owns multiple.

Adding to the intrigue, Le Monde’s main shareholder is Xavier Niel, a fellow billionaire—and Arnault’s daughter’s partner. Niel now follows Arnault on X.

Big picture: More CEOs are choosing to communicate with the public directly through social media or casual podcast interviews, instead of old-school media.—SK

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