Bernard Arnault's Son Takes a Nike Board Seat: Why Should NFT Holders Care?

Nike has appointed Alexandre Arnault to its board of directors. The brand sold its NFT studio RTFKT in December 2025, nine months before the move.

Alexandre Arnault is deputy CEO of Moët Hennessy, the wines and spirits arm of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton. His father, Bernard Arnault, runs that group. Alexandre Arnault also owns a CryptoPunk.

What Alexandre Arnault Brings to Nike

Nike confirmed the appointment on Wednesday. Executive Chairman Mark Parker pointed to Arnault’s record with well-known brands.

“Alexandre has earned a reputation for helping iconic global brands evolve, innovate and grow in a changing, complex marketplace.”

CEO Elliott Hill also cited his work on digital transformation and brand building.

Arnault called the board seat an honor on X and pointed to the brand’s record in sport and innovation.

Arnault previously ran luggage maker RIMOWA and spent four years as an executive vice president at Tiffany & Co. Earlier, he handled digital innovation and technology investment at LVMH and Agache, the Arnault family holding company. Stints at McKinsey and KKR came before that. He also sits on the LVMH board.

At the jeweler, he pushed hardest into Web3. In 2022, Tiffany turned his CryptoPunk into a diamond pendant. The brand then sold 250 NFTiff passes to CryptoPunk holders at 30 ETH each. That haul was worth roughly $12.7 million at the time.

The Swoosh Already Walked Away From Web3

Nike bought RTFKT, a digital sneaker studio whose name reads as “artifact”, in 2021. However, the company announced an end to its Web3 activities in December 2024. RTFKT closed a month later.

Holders sued in April 2025, seeking $5 million and calling the shutdown a rug pull. Nike then sold the studio to an undisclosed buyer eight months later. The company kept both the price and the buyer private.

Hill has cut non-core costs since taking over. His strategy favors physical products and wholesale partners over speculative digital collectibles.

Meanwhile, the wider collectibles market has kept sliding. NFT valuations sit near record lows.

Nike, Inc. Stock Chart. Source: TradingView

Arnault also joins at a bleak moment for the stock. Nike shares closed Wednesday at $35.78, down 1.21%, near a 12-year low. The company’s market value has roughly halved over the past year to about $53 billion.

Hill therefore sold the crypto unit to fund a return to physical sport. Arnault now enters Nike’s boardroom as one of luxury’s earliest crypto adopters.

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