New CEO Hermès has to keep LVMH at bay

Sixth
generation shareholder

Dumas, already from the sixth generation of family shareholders of Hermès, has been
working for the company since 2003. He has had a series of important positions:
he had the lead over the jewellery branch and the leather department. In 2011
he was named director of operations.

Before
Dumas started working at Hermès, he worked for BNP Paribas in China and the
United States. He studied philosophy at the Sorbonne in Paris and corporate
management at American Harvard. He also has a degree from the Institut d’Etudes
Politiques in Paris.

‘Continue
to protect our independence’

The new CEO
was “honoured” by the offer he received from the company: “I know the support and
vision of family shareholders are invaluable to continue the work of my
predecessors, especially for protecting our independence”, he said.

That last
part points to the manoeuvre of competitor LVMH, who silently built a participation of
22.6 percent in Hermès. The way this happened is currently being
legally challenged, but “The participation is unwanted and undesirable”, Dumas
stated.