The news is 2-weeks old but still worth noting here.

Following the death of Louis-Fabrice Latour (right) during this year’s harvest, the news regarding succession was shared with the workforce in Beaune on Friday 9th December and then officially disseminated outside of their organisation the following week – while I was actually at the domaine to taste.

It’s a cosmetic thing, but one ‘rule’ of succession will no longer be followed – that the name of the head of Louis Latour actually being Louis. Louis-Fabrice took over as head of the company in 1999 from his father, Louis – as it was for many generations. With the leadership of the group now passing to the brother of Louis-Fabrice – Florent Latour – we can see that times and needs have changed. Florent is the new Chairman of the Management Board and he will assume operational control of the company – visually, and from many angles, Florent shows remarkable similarities to his brother.

Born and raised in Beaune, Florent holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and was working in the technology industry in the US, where he lived with his wife and children. Both internal and external communication majors on a significant part of Florent’s new role being the preparation of the next generation to take on the operational management of the company. Fingers are pointing to another ‘rule’ of succession changing – not only may Florent’s replacement (also) not have the name Louis – they may also not be a man! 😉