Who Owns Gucci?

The 2021 film House of Gucci depicts the true tale of infighting and murder that arose from the success of a family-owned luxury brand. The real-life drama separated the brand from the Gucci family in the 1990s. Here we'll explore who owns Gucci today and how you can invest in this iconic brand.

Who is Gucci's owner?

Who is the owner of Gucci?

Luxury fashion group Kering SA (XPAR:KER) has owned Gucci since 2004. However, the ownership evolution from the founding family to Kering was not so straightforward. It was almost as contentious as the Gucci family infighting.

The ownership transition began in 1987 when investment manager Investcorp bought a 50% stake in Gucci from the founding family. Six years later, Investcorp acquired the remaining 50% from then-chairman Maurizio Gucci. Maurizio was the grandson of Gucci founder Guccio Gucci. As told in House of Gucci, Maurizio was murdered two years after selling his stake in the company.

Gucci went public on the New York and Amsterdam stock exchanges in 1995. Investcorp subsequently sold off its shares, netting more than $1.6 billion from its total investment of $245 million.

Kering, formerly known as Pinault-Printemps-Redoute SA (PPR), got involved in Gucci in 1999. Luxury stock rival LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH) had been quietly purchasing Gucci shares, amassing a 34% ownership stake. Gucci leadership accused LVMH of stealth takeover tactics and turned to French mogul François Pinault for help.

At the time, Pinault was diversifying and transforming PPR. He had founded the company in 1962 as a timber trading operation, but it had evolved into a retail conglomerate. The Gucci acquisition was an opportunity to complete the transition into luxury goods. Pinault willingly stepped in as Gucci's white knight.

As planned, PPR's investment in Gucci diluted LVMH's ownership position. LVMH took legal action, claiming the PPR arrangement had defrauded Gucci's minority shareholders.

The fight lasted two years, ultimately becoming a personal battle between Pinault and LVMH founder Bernard Arnault. In the end, the courts upheld the PPR investment. In 2001, PPR was authorized to buy half of LVMH's Gucci shares.

By 2004, PPR owned 68% of Gucci. PPR acquired the remaining shares through a monthlong tender offer held in April of that year. Gucci was subsequently delisted from the New York and Amsterdam stock exchanges. PPR changed its name to Kering in 2013.

The largest shareholders

Who are the largest shareholders?

Kering now owns Gucci outright. But who owns Kering? That question has a more complicated answer.

Kering's largest shareholder is Groupe Artémis, which owns 42% of the company. Artémis is a Paris-based investment house owned and controlled by the Pinault family. Gucci's white knight François Pinault founded Artemis in 1992. Pinault remains on the Artémis board as a managing partner today. He is worth an estimated $32 billion and is ranked 28th on the Forbes billionaires list.

Kering has roughly 123 million shares outstanding. Artémis' 42% position equates to about 52 million shares. At a stock price of 427 euros (or $464.94), those shares are worth about 22 billion euros (about $24 billion) in total.

More than 50% of Kering's shares are split across a fragmented group of institutional investors around the world. French, North American, and U.K. institutional investors collectively own 36.9% of the company. Many of these institutional investors are mutual funds. They include:

1. Vanguard International Growth Fund Investor Shares (VWIGX -0.7%) owns 1.2 million Kering shares, 0.98% of the company.
2. Oakmark International Fund (OAKIX -0.8%) holds 1.18 million shares, a 0.96% ownership stake.
3. Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund Admiral Shares (VTIAX -0.28%) holds 980,796 shares, 0.79% of the company.
4. New Perspective Fund (ANWPX -0.49%) by American Funds has 865,655 Kering shares, 0.70% of outstanding shares.
5. Capital Income Builder (CAIBX -0.15%), also from American Funds, holds 655,651 shares, 0.53% of the company.

Kering is a top-10 holding in the Oakmark International Fund. The company plays a smaller role in the other funds shown here.

After Artemis and institutional investors, the remainder of Kering shares are owned by retail investors and employees, including executives. Since 2021, the company has selectively repurchased its own shares, directing some of that stock into its free employee share grant program.

Gucci's board of directors

Who is on the board of directors for Gucci?

Gucci operates under the guidance of President and CEO Jean-François Palus and the Kering board of directors. Palus joined the PPR team in 1991 as deputy CFO for the timber division.

Since then, his leadership duties at the company have included overseeing Kering's mergers and acquisitions activity and serving on the Kering board. His titles have included Kering Group CFO and group managing director. Palus was appointed to lead Gucci in 2023.

Kering's board of directors has 11 members, as shown below.

1. François-Henri Pinault is Francois Pinault's son. He has been chairman and CEO of Kering since 2005. He is also a managing partner of Groupe Artémis. Pinault's wife, actress Salma Hayek, played psychic Giuseppina Auriemma in House of Gucci. In real life, Auriemma helped plan Maurizio Gucci's murder.
2. Concetta Battaglia has served as the director, representing employees since 2020. She is also head of operations at Kering UK Services. Battaglia joined Gucci in 2005 as the personal assistant to the worldwide store planning director. She holds a political science degree from Sapienza University of Rome.
3. Maureen Chiquet is an independent director who formerly held leadership roles at Chanel, The Gap, and Banana Republic. She became Chanel's first global CEO in 2007 and remained with the luxury fashion brand until 2016. Chiquet also chairs the boards of footwear company Golden Goose and La DoubleJ, a clothing and home accessories brand.
4. Jean-Pierre Denis has held director roles with Veolia and its predecessor companies. Veolia provides eco-friendly solutions for waste, water, and energy management. Denis is currently vice chairman of waste management and recycling company Paprec. Denis serves as climate change lead on Kering's board.
5. Yonca Dervisoglu, an independent director, is president of marketing for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa for Alphabet's (GOOGL 10.22%)(GOOG 9.96%) Google. She has also held senior marketing positions for Unilever (UL 0.63%), Yahoo!, and Turkish conglomerate Kale Group.

1. Baudouin Prot has held leadership roles with the French Ministry of Finance and BNP Paribas (BNPQF 1.89%). His titles with BNP included director, CEO, and non-executive chairman.
2. Vincent Shaal is Kering Technologies' infrastructure director. He joined PPR in 1999 after holding engineering roles at automaker Renault and grocery store operator Carrefour Group.
3. Héloïse Temple-Boyer is the CEO of Artémis. She joined the team in 2013 as investment director after holding operations and finance roles with Groupe Casino, Rothschild & Co., and private equity firm Advent International.
4. Emma Watson is a British actress and outspoken advocate for gender equality and sustainable fashion. She's best known for her role as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films. As a UN WOMEN Global Goodwill Ambassador, Watson launched the HeForShe initiative in the mid-2010s to enlist men to promote gender equality.
5. Véronique Weill is an investment banking expert whose resume includes 20 years of experience in various leadership roles with JPMorgan (JPM 0.06%). She's also held director roles with asset manager AXA Group (AXAHF -0.55%) and oversaw mergers and acquisitions for Publicis Groupe (PUBGY 1.31%).
6. Serge Weinberg joined PPR in 1990 after holding leadership roles for French television station France 3 and Havas Tourisme Group. For PPR, he worked as chairman and CEO of subsidiary Rexel and chaired PPR's management board. He is currently chairman of the board for healthcare company Sanofi (SNY -0.47%) and investment manager Weinberg Capital.

Related investing topics

How to invest in Gucci

How to invest in Gucci

You can invest your money in Gucci by purchasing Kering shares directly or through a fund. Kering trades as KER on the French stock exchange Euronext Paris. Direct purchase of KER shares requires a brokerage account that provides access to the French exchange or an account with Société Générale Securities Services.

An exchange-traded fund (ETF) investment in Kering is a simpler and more diversified option. Funds available to U.S. retail investors include:

1. Vanguard Total International Stock ETF (VXUS 0.81%) holds more than 8,500 international stocks and carries a low expense ratio of 0.08%. The Kering position is 0.10% of the total portfolio. The fund has produced a 10-year average annual return of 4.2%.
2. iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF (IEFA 0.78%) has 2,832 stocks in its portfolio, from large- to small-cap stocks. The fund's expense ratio is also efficient at 0.07%. Kering comprises 0.18% of the holdings. This ETF's 10-year average annual return is 4.5%.
3. iShares MSCI EAFE ETF (EFA 0.8%) focuses on large and mid-sized international stocks. The portfolio includes 770 holdings, and the 10-year average annual return is 4.2%. At 0.33%, the ETF has the highest expense ratio of the funds shown here.
4. SPDR Portfolio Europe ETF (NYSEMKT:SPEU) tracks the STOXX® Europe Total Market Index. The portfolio holds 1,799 stocks, with the Kering position weighted at 0.25%. This ETF's expense ratio is 0.07%, and the fund's 10-year average annual return is 3.6%.

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