‘Crisis’ in the Middle East weighs on LVMH CEO’s mind

LVMH’s CEO Bernard Arnault has raised significant concerns regarding the precarious situation that the world finds itself in as the war in the Middle East rumbles on.

At the company’s AGM in Paris, Arnault told shareholders that “the world is now in a pretty serious crisis in the Middle East,” as LVMH reported a halving of its sales growth for the first quarter.

According to a translation from LVMH, he went on to say: “Either it’ll be a world catastrophe with very serious and very negative economic impact — in which case, who can say how 2026 will unfold — or it will be resolved more rapidly in some shape or form that we all hope for.”

One way that Arnault sees as future-proofing LVMH is to expand its luxury jewellery offering. He said that he wants the group to become “the leading jewelry brand” in five years’ time, with Tiffany driving much of those aspirations.