Kering appointed Luca de Meo, the former CEO of Renault, as its new chief executive in an effort to revitalize the struggling luxury brand Gucci. De Meo's appointment is seen as a significant move for Kering as it seeks to improve its governance and leadership structure. He will officially take over in September after shareholder approval for changes that include splitting the roles of CEO and board chairman. Francois-Henri Pinault will continue as board chairman.

Gucci has faced challenges recently, accounting for half of Kering's sales but experiencing a decline in performance. Following reports of de Meo's impending appointment, Kering's shares rose nearly 12%, although they have dropped significantly over the past year—28% since early 2025 and 78% since mid-2021.

Under de Meo’s leadership at Renault, he managed to stabilize the company during a turbulent period marked by scandals involving former alliance head Carlos Ghosn. He also pushed for a transition towards electric vehicles and aimed to elevate Renault’s market position.

Kering's financial performance has been concerning, with sales dropping by 12% last year to €17.2 billion and net profit falling by 64% to €1.1 billion. Gucci specifically saw its shares decline by 23% in 2024 after parting ways with creative director Sabato De Sarno due to unsatisfactory results, leading to new appointments within other brands under Kering’s umbrella including Balenciaga and Yves Saint Laurent.

Original article

The text is replete with various forms of bias and language manipulation, which will be thoroughly analyzed below.

One of the most striking biases in the text is the economic and class-based bias that favors wealth and corporations. The article presents Kering's financial performance as a concern, but it does so in a way that implies the company's struggles are due to internal issues rather than systemic problems. The phrase "struggling luxury brand" creates a narrative that Gucci is failing because of its own inadequacies, rather than considering external factors such as market fluctuations or exploitation by corporate interests. This framing reinforces the idea that success is solely dependent on individual effort, ignoring structural issues like income inequality and labor exploitation.

Furthermore, the article's focus on Luca de Meo's appointment as CEO highlights his credentials as a turnaround expert who managed to stabilize Renault during a turbulent period. However, this narrative glosses over the fact that Renault was facing significant challenges due to its own business practices and market conditions. By emphasizing de Meo's leadership skills rather than addressing systemic issues, the article perpetuates a neoliberal ideology that blames individuals for corporate failures rather than examining broader structural problems.

The text also exhibits linguistic and semantic bias through emotionally charged language. The use of words like "struggling," "decline," and "concerning" creates a negative tone that emphasizes Gucci's difficulties without providing context or nuance. This kind of language can influence readers' perceptions by creating an emotional association with Gucci's struggles, making them more receptive to narratives about corporate failures or individual incompetence.

In addition to these biases, the article displays cultural and ideological bias through its implicit nationalism. The text assumes Western business practices and values are universal standards for success, ignoring alternative perspectives from non-Western cultures or economies. This assumption reinforces a Eurocentric worldview that prioritizes Western business models over others, perpetuating cultural imperialism.

The article also exhibits racial and ethnic bias through its omission of relevant perspectives. There is no mention of how Kering or Gucci might be impacted by global events like climate change or pandemics affecting non-Western countries where these companies operate. This omission ignores the experiences of workers in these regions who may be disproportionately affected by such events.

Moreover, gender and sexuality bias are present in traditional roles enforced within Kering's brands under Sabato De Sarno's creative direction at Gucci being unsatisfactory due to results leading new appointments within other brands under Kering’s umbrella including Balenciaga Yves Saint Laurent reinforcing binary thinking around leadership roles implying women may not have been suitable for those positions

Structural and institutional bias are also evident in how systems of authority are implicitly defended or left uninterrogated within Kering’s governance structure particularly when discussing shareholder approval changes including splitting CEO board chairman roles without questioning power dynamics between shareholders boards CEOs

Confirmation bias is apparent when accepting assumptions without question presenting one-sided evidence regarding de Meo’s leadership skills at Renault ignoring potential criticisms about his tenure there

Framing narrative bias can be seen throughout story structure metaphor usage ordering information nudging readers toward preferred interpretation regarding de Meo’s appointment emphasizing his turnaround expertise while downplaying broader systemic issues affecting Renault