The sponsorship deal with LVMH followed a year of negotiations that ultimately resulted in an investment of around $160 million from the parent company of brands such as Celine, Louis Vuitton, Loewe, Tiffany & Co., TAG Heuer and Dom Pérignon.
The partnership will be showcased throughout the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, which officially open on Friday.
Chaumet, a subsidiary of LVMH, was founded in Paris in 1812 and was the first jeweler in Olympic and Paralympic history to design medals. The trunks housing the medals were made by Louis Vuitton, also a subsidiary of LVMH. The hospitality suites will feature wines and spirits from the company’s Moët Hennessy brand. The French team will wear uniforms designed by Berluti, also a subsidiary of LVMH, at the Opening Ceremony.
“This is not mainly to showcase the brand, but to showcase the spirit of our group and the spirit of our country,” Arnault said. “We are showcasing the power of our country in the world.”
LVMH Chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault attends the Viva Technology Show at the Porte de Versailles exhibition center on May 23, 2024 in Paris, France.
Chessknot | Getty Images
Arnault says sports will remain an important part of the company’s future.
“We have always had a close relationship with sport because it has values that we share,” he said.
LVMH’s Olympic sponsorship deal comes at a time when consumers in the U.S. and Asia are under pressure.
The weakness of the Japanese yen has seen Chinese shoppers with a penchant for luxury goods flock to Japan to buy LVMH goods at discounted prices.
LVMH, seen as a bellwether for the luxury sector as a whole, led a sell-off in global luxury stocks this week after second-quarter sales fell short of analysts’ expectations.
In its semi-annual report, LVMH said sales in Japan rose 57% in the second quarter, but fell 14% elsewhere in Asia.
“The world is going through a period of geopolitical uncertainty and also economic problems such as wars, inflation and interest rates. But in the long term I am still quite optimistic,” Arnault said. “In the medium term, this trend will continue with ups and downs.”
On Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron hosted a pre-Olympics lunch for executives from around the world, including Arnault, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky.
Speaking on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Friday morning, Chesky told Sorkin that one of the main topics at the luncheon will be “the changing nature of the economy, likely driven by AI and robotics, and what that means for the next generation.”
The lunch, held the day before the opening ceremony, was part of a wider effort by the Elysee Palace to promote investment in France amid uncertainty over the ruling party following July’s snap election.
Ahead of the luncheon, Arnault told Sorkin that the last time he spoke to Musk was about the idea of putting Louis Vuitton inside a rocket.
“I have to think,” Arnault said, “I’m afraid he’ll ask me to go with him on the rocket.”
Disclosure: CNBC’s parent company, NBCUniversal, owns NBC Sports and NBC Olympics, which holds the U.S. broadcast rights to all Summer and Winter Olympic Games through 2032.
