French Luxury Giant Kering Taps Auto Executive as Its New Leader
Kering, the beleaguered owner of Gucci, Saint Laurent, Balenciaga and other big fashion brands, on Monday announced Luca de Meo, the former boss of the French carmaker Renault, as its new chief executive, hoping the veteran auto industry leader can help revive the fortunes of the luxury goods giant.
Mr. de Meo, 58, resigned on Sunday from Renault, which he had run since 2020. He also holds stints at Volkswagen, Fiat and Toyota under his belt, but has never worked in the fashion industry before. On Sept. 15, he will become the new leader of Kering, the company said in a statement, replacing its longtime chief executive, Francois-Henri Pinault.
'The group is ready for a new stage in its development,' said Mr. Pinault in the statement. Mr. de Meo 'is the leader I was looking for to bring a new vision and steer this chapter,' he added.
Mr. Pinault, 63, the billionaire scion of one of France's best-known families, has been the chairman and chief executive of the group since 2005, when he first took the reins of his father's retail conglomerate Pinault-Printemps-Redoute and turned it into the luxury goods maker Kering in 2013. For a time, the company enjoyed spectacular growth, fueled by its cash cow Gucci, which accounts for almost half of Kering's revenue.
For a time, Kering was almost seen as a rival to LVMH, the French luxury conglomerate led by Bernard Arnault, but it struggled after sales fell across its stable, including Gucci, amid an upheaval among designers and executives and a wider slowdown in the global luxury market in the wake of the pandemic. The company has taken on more than 10 billion euros in debt, or $11.6 billion, and its share price has fallen 78 percent from its peak in mid-2021.
In recent months, scrutiny of Mr. Pinault's ability to continue as chief executive increased, as did theories around a possible succession plan involving a candidate from outside the Pinault family.
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