Pierre Godé, Top Adviser to France’s Richest Man, Dies at 73
- 6 years ago
Pierre Godé, Top Adviser to France’s Richest Man, Dies at 73
In 2013, following LVMH’s stealthy effort to build up a stake in the family-owned leather goods house Hermès — actions
that turned into a bitter public battle — Mr. Godé became deputy chairman of LVMH’s Italian operations and stepped down as chief executive of Mr. Arnault’s investment companies, Groupe Arnault and Financière Agache.
Arnault said that Alongside my father, Jean Arnault, and then alongside me, Pierre Godé was instrumental in the creation and growth of the LVMH Group,
Mr. Godé and Mr. Arnault met in 1973, when Mr. Godé was the youngest qualified law professor in France
and a lawyer to Mr. Arnault’s father, Jean, the head of a property company.
2, 2018
Pierre Godé, a French lawyer whose steely negotiation skills
and strategic vision made him the éminence grise of the world’s largest luxury group, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, has died in Nice, France.
"He is my closest colleague as well as a confidant and friend without equal." Mr. Godé officially joined Mr. Arnault’s company in 1985, having assisted in a 1984 bid for Boussac, a bankrupt textile company
that counted the Christian Dior fashion house among its assets.
A loyal second-in-command and adviser trusted like no other — LVMH has become infamous for the fast-moving revolving doors
at its many fashion houses — Mr. Godé later led the charge in some of the group’s most high-risk business dealings.
In 2013, following LVMH’s stealthy effort to build up a stake in the family-owned leather goods house Hermès — actions
that turned into a bitter public battle — Mr. Godé became deputy chairman of LVMH’s Italian operations and stepped down as chief executive of Mr. Arnault’s investment companies, Groupe Arnault and Financière Agache.
Arnault said that Alongside my father, Jean Arnault, and then alongside me, Pierre Godé was instrumental in the creation and growth of the LVMH Group,
Mr. Godé and Mr. Arnault met in 1973, when Mr. Godé was the youngest qualified law professor in France
and a lawyer to Mr. Arnault’s father, Jean, the head of a property company.
2, 2018
Pierre Godé, a French lawyer whose steely negotiation skills
and strategic vision made him the éminence grise of the world’s largest luxury group, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, has died in Nice, France.
"He is my closest colleague as well as a confidant and friend without equal." Mr. Godé officially joined Mr. Arnault’s company in 1985, having assisted in a 1984 bid for Boussac, a bankrupt textile company
that counted the Christian Dior fashion house among its assets.
A loyal second-in-command and adviser trusted like no other — LVMH has become infamous for the fast-moving revolving doors
at its many fashion houses — Mr. Godé later led the charge in some of the group’s most high-risk business dealings.