Bernard Arnault appoints daughter Delphine in top Louis Vuitton role

France’s richest man, Bernard Arnault, has appointed his eldest daughter in a prominent role within his company LVMH Moët Hennessy - Louis Vuitton, leading to speculation that he could be preparing to hand over his £70bn empire to her.

Delphine Arnauilt, 38, formerly deputy managing director of Christian Dior - one of the 60-plus brands within LVMH, the world’s leading luxury products group - has left Dior and is now executive vice-president of Louis Vuitton. It is considered one of LVMH’s most high-powered positions.

The mother-of-one will be one of the highest-ranking woman within the €70bn Paris-based empire. Currently, the only woman who sits on the board of 15 below her father is Chantal Gaemperle, head of human resources.

Arnault is Chairman and CEO of LVMH Moët Hennessy - Louis Vuitton, the luxury goods company whose 60-plus brands include Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Givenchy, Marc Jacobs and Fendi.

He was this year named 18th richest man in the world by Forbes, and he mixes in high circles: he was a witness to Nicolas Sarkozy’s wedding to Carla Bruni in 2008.

Arnauld is entrusting his daughter to boost Louis Vuitton’s struggling sales by overhauling the products, according to Bloomberg.

Delphine will move jobs in September, and Michael Burke, chairman and chief executive officer at Louis Vuitton, said in a statement that her experience and knowledge of the luxury market are ‘key assets to contribute to the successful development of Louis Vuitton’.

Vuitton accounted for about half of LVMH’s 5.9 billion euros (£5 billion) in earnings before interest and taxes in 2012.

Already one of the world’s richest women thanks to the work she has done for her father’s company,  Delphine’s net worth stood at a reported €2.8 billion ($3.9 billion) in 2012.

A highly-respected, serious, and extremely hard-working businesswoman, Delphine has degrees from graduated from EDHEC Business School in Lille and the London School of Economics, where she was head of student organisations.

She was credited with keeping Dior’s head above water when the brand’s creativ John Galliano had his infamous anti-Semitic outburst in Paris in 2011, and then with encouraging Raf Simons into the role.

Arnault married Alessandro Vallarino Gancia, 37, heir to Gancia, an Italian dynasty of wines, in 2005. Her wedding was the event of the year for the French elite, and her wedding dress was designed by George Galliano. The couple divorced in 2010.

Delphine, a very private person who dislikes media intrusion, gave birth to her first child in August 2012.