Frédéric Arnault is the CEO of TAG Heuer, a brand belonging to the LVMH group (Louis Vuitton-Moët Hennessy). But he is a businessman who has lived several lives, from Polytechnique to Facebook, including the world of McKinsey consulting and entrepreneurship. Focus on the journey of Bernard Arnault’s son.
The studies of Frédéric Arnault
Frédéric Arnault studied at the École Polytechnique. He joined this engineering school after completing an MPSI prep in 2012 (Mathematics, Physics and Engineering Sciences), a scientific preparatory class which can then lead to an MP (Mathematics-Physics) or PSI (Physics- Engineering Sciences) in the second year.
In 2014, Frédéric Arnault joined Polytechnique, where he graduated in 2018. During his engineering training, he specialized in Computational and Applied Mathematics. After his compulsory 6-month military service, he joined the Paris fire brigade, a military force in which he was Lead Paramedic. He carried out this experiment from October 2014 to March 2015 in the 10e and 18e borough.
Frédéric Arnault is described as one of the most brilliant in his family and his academic results will not say the opposite. Bernard Arnault’s son therefore completed his studies in the same engineering school as his father and his brother, Alexandre Arnault.
Frédéric Arnault’s professional journey, between McKinsey and Facebook
The internships are extremely educational and prepare you much better for entry into working life than theoretical courses. Frédéric Arnault first turned to the world of consulting and joined one of the MBBs: McKinsey. He held the position of Summer Business Analyst. Before TAG Heuer, Frédéric Arnault cut his teeth in the San Francisco branch of the consulting firm.
As a Summer Business Analyst, he worked in a team of 3 to 5 consultants to support clients in both the public and private spheres. McKinsey promises interns who work in this position to help them develop their skills on various subjects, such as the ability to structure complex information using quantitative and qualitative analyzes to extract key points, the ability to build a relationship of trust with customers or even leadership.
After this first internship, Frédéric Arnault joined Facebook for a second professional experience during his studies at Polytechnique. He was an intern at FAIR, for Facebook Artificial Intelligence Research, the organization which brings together all of Meta’s AI research laboratories, within the New York branch, which is FAIR’s headquarters. Frédéric Arnault therefore had a professional career focused on the United States.
Created in 2013, FAIR moved to France in 2015. This entity welcomes more than 75 researchers and works in particular on subjects related to the personalization of the news feed of Facebook users. Among the research carried out in the premises, we also find image recognition or facial recognition.
The arrival and evolution of Frédéric Arnault within TAG Heuer
Frédéric Arnault joined TAG Heuer in 2017, while he was still a student at Polytechnique. At the time, the Swiss watchmaker already belonged to LVMH, since the brand was bought in 1999. Frédéric Arnault already gained the trust of the managers of the time who appointed him directly responsible for connected technologies.
The creation of this department is directly linked to the partnership established between TAG Heuer, Intel and Google in 2015. The objective of this alliance is to create a connected luxury watch. The first model, the TAG Heuer Carrera Connected, was also unveiled the same year. Its price? €1,400. Frédéric Arnault therefore had to support the development of this division in a world which is experiencing a boom with connected watches from Apple or Samsung.
In 2018, after obtaining his diploma, Frédéric Arnault was appointed Strategy and Digital Director of TAG Heuer. That same year, Stéphane Bianchi took over as head of the brand. As his position indicates, Bernard Arnault’s son therefore takes care of the strategy of this luxury watchmaking brand, while strengthening the digital dimension which is generally a universe in which the luxury industry is historically less present.
Frédéric Arnault, CEO of TAG Heuer
The 1er July 2020, Frédéric Arnault takes up his position as CEO of TAG Heuer at just 25 years old. He therefore succeeds Stéphane Bianchi who is delighted with the arrival of Bernard Arnault’s son at the head of this LVMH subsidiary. He will indicate in particular that Frédéric Arnault played a decisive role in the strategic repositioning of TAG Heuer and that this watch enthusiast should carry out the projects that await this player in luxury watchmaking.
So is he too young to run TAG Heuer? In any case, this is the criticism made of him. He confides in Capitalevoking that “ it is an indisputable fact “. He nevertheless specifies that most of TAG Heuer’s directors were relatively young managers and that he wishes to follow this lineage.
Frédéric Arnault indicates in several interviews that it was his desire to be an entrepreneur in particular that pushed him to join TAG Heuer and LVMH, knowing the company’s strong entrepreneurial culture. It must be said that before this professional adventure, Bernard Arnault’s son had notably embarked on a project with other Polytechnicians!
NEOS, Frédéric Arnault’s startup
Frédéric Arnault experienced an entrepreneurial adventure with two friends from Polytechnique, including Grégoire Genest, founder of Albert School. Together, they designed NEOS, for “New Experience Of Shopping”. Created in 2017, this application called “ scan & go » was resold to Lyf Pay in 2019.
At the time of its resale, the service was established in big names in mass distribution, such as Bio c’ Bon, Carrefour and Sephora. His goal? Facilitate in-store transactions, allowing you to scan and pay directly on your phone for the product you wish to purchase. This quick and easy payment system has been implemented in many stores today. Fnac and Apple Stores give their users the opportunity to scan and pay directly using the eponymous applications.
To read: Anthony Ledru, SKEMA BS graduate, becomes CEO of Tiffany and Co.
Frédéric Arnault and LVMH: Will the heir take the reins of the luxury empire?
Bernard Arnault took over as head of LVMH in 1990, 5 years before Frédéric Arnault was born. Since then, he has shown that he was capable of successfully leading this luxury empire, particularly in times of crisis, as was the case in 2020 and 2021. Was Frédéric Arnault placed at the head of TAG Heuer to get its start before taking over LVMH? Nothing is less certain!
Indeed, Frédéric Arnault considers himself a “geek” at heart and first of all intends to develop TAG Heuer’s business and prove himself. He also sometimes regrets being seen as an heir, telling Capital that in France “ there is a negative connotation to being an heir. The question is: “What are we going to do with this heritage and what vision do we have of it?” » In the family, entrepreneurial value has always been extremely developed. The LVMH group is still young, only around thirty years old. We are only at the beginning of the adventure. »
