Takeover of French magazine Challenges by luxury conglomerate LVMH: media independence and pluralism are not for sale

At the heart of negotiations between media mogul Claude Perdriel, majority shareholder of the French press group Éditions Croque Futur (Challenges, Sciences et Avenir-La Recherche), and the global luxury conglomerate LVMH, lies the economic weekly's ethics charter. The document was drafted in 2013 in a close collaboration between Claude Perdriel and the magazine's internal journalist association. In 2023, it was signed by Claude Perdriel as a demonstration of his commitment to the text, which is currently being called into question by the magazine's future shareholder, Bernard Arnault, whose luxury goods group LVMH owns 75 companies across six different sectors, and has substantial shares in several major French economic and financial publications (Les Échos, Investir, Mieux Vivre Votre Argent).

Although Claude Perdriel considered this charter "untouchable," in June 2025, the magazine's prospective buyer has reportedly challenged it on two fronts: the first concerns the process for appointing the editor-in-chief, which the charter stipulates should be by a majority vote of the journalists, and the second, the charter's reference to magazine's "adherence to the social market economy," which LVMH's management would like to replace with adherence to the "liberal economy" and "business world." The LVMH group's acquisition of a business magazine - which already has - raises serious concerns with regard to media pluralism in the sector. The LVMH group did not respond to RSF requests for comment.

Although the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) - which came into full effecton 8 August 2025 - provides guarantees to protect newsroom editorial independence and limit the risks posed by media concentration in Europe, its implementation at the national level has been slow. Transposing the EMFA into French law is a central focus of the draft law that came out of the French General Assembly of Information, which the French government has long promised to put into effect. This legislative overhaul must offer concrete guarantees of editorial independence for newsrooms - such as the widespread adoption of ethics charters in the media world and the involvement of newsrooms in management changes - and prevent the ownership of mass media outlets being concentrated in the hands of a few.

France is ranked 25th in the 2025 RSF World Press Freedom Indexand is regularly criticised for its concentration of media ownership which has not been accompanied by sufficient safeguards for editorial independence.