Nike bets on a millennial Arnault heir after bleeding $200 billion and being ousted from the S&P 100

Nike’s turnaround has proved harder than expected.

The sportswear giant has fallen far enough to lose its place among America’s 100 biggest blue-chip companies last week, having lost $200 billion in market cap since its 2021 peak.

It’s now bringing a scion of the world’s biggest luxury conglomerate into the boardroom to help it regain its edge.

Alexandre Arnault, the 34-year-old son of LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault, announced Wednesday he’s joining Nike’s board of directors, writing he’s “been a fan of Nike” for its sports, performance, creativity and innovation.

He currently helps run LVMH’s wines and spirits segment.

“As a lifelong sports enthusiast and runner, these values resonate deeply with me,” he wrote on LinkedIn .

“Nike has been part of countless kilometres, races and personal goals over the years, which makes the opportunity to contribute to its next chapter especially meaningful.” Nike executives pointed to Arnault’s experience helping heritage companies like German luggage-maker Rimowa and Tiffany feel current as the reason behind his role.

As Rimowa’s CEO, Arnault reworked its stores and leaned into buzzy collaborations with Supreme and Off-White .

He later moved to overseeing products and communication at Tiffany, where he helped bring the 19th-century jeweler deeper into pop culture through a streetwear collaboration with Nike and marketing campaigns like “About Love”, which featured Beyonce, Jay Z and a Basquiat painting .

“Alexandre understands how some of the world’s most influential brands stay relevant, deepen consumer connections and drive long-term growth,” Nike CEO Elliott Hill said .

“His experience across innovation, digital transformation and brand building will be an asset.” Nike is still trying to turn itself around Nike has spent nearly two years trying to undo the mistakes that helped push it into a slump.

It brought 32-year Nike veteran Elliott Hill out of retirement to rebuild relationships with wholesalers and pour resources back into innovating for athletes .

Its latest numbers show the work that remains.

Nike’s fourth quarter revenue fell 1% to $11 billion, while Nike Direct—the part of the business Nike’s previous CEO said was the company’s future —fell 7%.