Meet Frédéric Arnault, the Tag Heuer CEO vying to run LVMH: Bernard Arnault’s third son bagged Ryan Gosling as brand ambassador, plays tennis with Roger Federer and launched an NFT-friendly watch

Jul 23 , 2022

Europe’s wealthiest man, Bernard Arnault, with his fourth child, Frédéric Arnault, back in 2018. Photo: Reuters

The Arnaults are the world’s first family when it comes to luxury goods. Headed by Bernard Arnault – aka Europe’s wealthiest man – the family have created an impressive empire out of the merger that is LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.

Tech savvy Tag Heuer CEO Frédéric Arnault has shaken up the brand since taking over. Photo: @frederic.arnault/Instagram

As time passes, whispers about who will replace Bernard have grown louder, made worse by the fact that the family refuse to address the topic in public. One of those in the running, Bernard’s third son Frédéric, has been making a name for himself thanks to his ongoing success as chief executive at Tag Heuer.

So who is this 27-year-old business whizz, and what more is there to know about him?

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He studied computer science and interned at Facebook

Frédéric Arnault at the launch of his Tag Heuer Connected watch in New York, in March. Photo: @frederic.arnault/Instagram

Frédéric graduated from École Polytechnique, one of France’s most prestigious universities, with a degree in applied mathematics and computer science. Per his LinkedIn profile, he also interned at Facebook and with McKinsey & Company before joining Tag Heuer. He speaks English and French fluently and is also able to converse in Italian and German.

He is already being groomed to take over from his dad

Current Tag Heuer CEO Frédéric Arnault was trained by the brand’s former chief executive officer Stéphane Bianchi. Photo: Tag Heuer

Like all of Arnault’s children, Frédéric has always been groomed to eventually take over the French brand.

He first joined the company in a temporary role as head of connected technologies in 2017. Back then, Stéphane Bianchi, former head of Tag Heuer, was tasked with preparing the younger Arnault to become CEO. According to The New York Times, Bianchi acknowledged that it was not the easiest transition. “We clashed everywhere in the beginning, but now we laugh about it,” he revealed. “You can have a big brain and not be a leader. He has both.”

Frédéric Arnault managed to persuade Ryan Gosling to join Tag Heuer as a brand ambassador. Photo: @frederic.arnault/Instagram

Since then, Frédéric has made several changes within the luxury watch line and steered the company to new heights. Most notably, he recently scored Hollywood actor Ryan Gosling as Tag Heuer’s ambassador – the Golden Globe winner’s first-ever deal with a brand.

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He is a huge fan of NFTs

Frédéric Arnault with his older brother Alexandre Arnault, who is also in the running to take over LVMH from their father Bernard Arnault. Photo: @alexandrearnault/Instagram

Like his older brother Alexandre, the up-and-coming business magnate knows that cryptocurrencies and NFTs are part of the future of transactions. “We believe it’s a new technology, a new asset class that has been created and Tag Heuer has a voice there,” Frédéric said onstage at the Watches & Wonders fair, Vogue Business reported.

As a testament to this, Tag Heuer now accepts several cryptocurrency payments through Bitpay, which includes bitcoin and Dogecoin.

He also recently shared the Tag Heuer Connected Calibre E4 on his social media, which allows owners to view their NFT portfolios on their luxury timepieces. The head of Tag Heuer is known to share a cryptocurrency wallet with Alexandre.

He plays tennis, chess and piano

The young executive likes to make good use of his time outside work and spend it with his loved ones. He plays the piano like his concert pianist mum, Hélène Mercier-Arnault.

Frédéric Arnault plays a game of chess with his father, Bernard Arnault. Photo: @frederic.arnault/Instagram

In his downtime, he is also known to enjoy playing chess with his billionaire dad, as well as hitting tennis balls with pro players including Roger Federer and Félix Auger-Aliassime.

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He appears to be an eligible bachelor

Frédéric Arnault has almost 67,000 followers on Instagram. Photo: @frederic.arnault/Instagram

The dating life of someone as high-profile as Frédéric will always be the subject of online speculation.

Given his responsibilities, it’s perhaps not surprising he hasn’t found time to go on dates, but it’s likely not long before we hear more about a special someone. Is it beyond the realms of possibility he could catch the eye of Blackpink’s Jisoo? We think not …

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Millionaires and billionaires

Europe’s richest man, Bernard Arnault, has yet to reveal his LVMH succession plan, but his fourth child Frédéric has more than proved himself as CEO of Tag Heuer
The 27 year old once interned at Facebook, speaks four languages, and plays tennis with Roger Federer and Félix Auger-Aliassime – he even plays piano like his mum