LVMH Appoints French Politician As US Chairman

LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton CEO Bernard Arnault has appointed Renaud Dutreil, a former French government minister, as chairman of its US operations. Mr Dutreil, 48, has been in French politics for more than 15 years. He served as a government minister from 2002 until 2007 under a succession of prime ministers. He has been minister for small and medium-sized businesses, commerce, crafts and liberal professions, minister for public functions and state reform, and secretary of state for small and medium-sized businesses, commerce, crafts, liberal professions and consumer affairs.

However, he was excluded from cabinet following President Nicholas Sarkozy's election last year. He is currently Member of Parliament for Reims but he failed in a bid to become his party's candidate for mayor of Reims. Dutreil will represent LVMH in North America, and part of his responsibility will be to work directly with public authorities and the business community in the U.S. Dutreil's role is to regionally coordinate the group's various undertakings, focus on the overall business performance and ensure image coherence. He is also being charged with overseeing the group's shared services, which include such divisions as human resources, finance, legal and property, with those corporate areas reporting to him.

In a letter published in Monday's issue of Le Monde, Dutreil cited three reasons for trading politics for business, the principal one being Arnault himself. Also, he added: "I'd like to show that there's more than one way to serve your country, after twenty years of public service, and that a politician can also be a businessman."