Alumnus directs luxury group,
6,200 miles from home

After working in the highly publicized arena that took Macy's from bankruptcy to merger with Federated Department Stores, the last place Myron E. "Mike" Ullman III wanted to go was another public company, let alone one headquartered in France, 6,200 miles from his California home.

"I had been CEO at Macy's and that was enough public exposure for me," Ullman, an alumnus of UC's College of Business Administration, told 19 UC's Honors-PLUS business students who visited him in Paris. He's now a senior executive at LVMH (Moet Hennessey Louis Vuitton), the world's largest maker of luxury goods, headquartered in France. Four years ago, Ullman took an offer to become the company's second-in-command, despite his intention to stay away from public companies.

LVMH, chaired by billionaire Bernard Arnault, had acquired a controlling interest in DFS Group, the travel retail chain that landed Ullman after he stepped down from his position at Federated Department Stores, which acquired Macy's. Within three years, Arnault asked Ullman to become LVMH Group Managing Director and help in managing its international mix of brands.

At Macy's, Ullman's challenge had been to keep the company afloat and put it back in the black. At LVMH, the challenge is to foster co-operation within a bunch of different companies, yet still retain the cutting-edge creativity and independence that makes them what they are as individual businesses. Louis Vuitton leather goods and fashions, Christian Dior perfume, Guerlain perfumes, Dom Perignon wines and champagnes and Sephora cosmetics are just a handful of the brands now owned by LVMH.

"Our approach is to not control every single aspect of all these companies," Ullman told his 22- and 23-year-old listeners over a lunch he hosted for them at a fashionable Parisian restaurant, not far from the Champs Elysees. "That would imply we have a centralized structure, and that is something we don't want. The challenge is how to organize this group without losing the energy level of the individual companies." Ullman tells the CEOs of each unit, "I want more chaos. I want six opinions, not one."

Another challenge is be constantly innovative in the face of making luxury items that people don't consider essential. It's a constant balance between scarcity and availability. "We have to be light on our feet. Because let's face it -- nothing we make is what people really need - it's what they want. If it's too scarce, we would have nothing to sell. If it's too available, who wants to buy it? "

Standing in the middle of a room in L'Avenue, a restaurant situated on a corner surrounded by shops carrying the names of LVMH brands, Ullman provided the young business juniors with a real life example that you could become a business leader without gaining international experience as an undergraduate - if you graduated in 1969. But the world is different now and that's why Ullman is impressed that his alma mater has taken steps to give students more international exposure. That's why he was willing to meet with UC's Carl H. Lindner Honors-PLUS Scholars in Paris and arrange a tour of the Louis Vuitton museum and workshops for them during their recent tour of Europe.

"I'm very excited you're getting this opportunity. It's a great experience for you," he told the juniors. "The world is getting smaller. It would be very difficult today to be a CEO without living and working in a foreign assignment first. It's a huge advantage to be exposed to international business as early as possible," he said.

"I think you will look back on this trip someday and realize it was one of the most valuable things you ever did in college," he continued.

For Ullman, his first international experience didn't come until after he graduated from CBA with a degree in industrial management. In his first job at IBM in Cincinnati, the Canfield, Ohio native was assigned to work with Procter & Gamble, which took him to venues in Japan and South America. Once he went global, he was hooked. Later he worked in Hong Kong with classmate Peter Woo, who ran the Warf Holdings Ltd. When he spoke to the UC students in September, Ullman was working the majority of his time in Europe. International business "ended up changing my whole life and changing my whole family," said Ullman, who adopted two Asian daughters in the process. He and his wife Cathy, also a UC alum, have four sons as well.

He credits UC's co-op program and the White House Fellows program with providing him with his biggest career advantages, however. The first showed him that majoring in engineering, as his father had, was a big mistake. "I realized what I really wanted to do, before it was too late." The latter, which allowed him to serve as executive assistant to U.S. Trade Representative William Brock, gave him greater insights into the international business world and fed a continuing interest in that area.

Before his fellowship and after IBM, Ullman also earned valuable experience through another UC connection. He worked as vice president for business affairs at UC from 1976 to 1981. He was the youngest person to have served UC at that level. He calls running a university one of toughest businesses to run.

Ullman stresses that those who wish to be successful can do so if they're willing to think critically, work hard and maintain honesty and integrity. It also helps to learn more by doing volunteer work for nonprofit organizations. Ullman, the recipient of the UC Alumni Association's 1993 William Howard Taft Medal for Notable Achievement, serves on the UC Foundation Board and as an officer of the Alumni Association. Most of his volunteer time now, however, benefits Mercy Ships International, which operates a fleet of ships crewed by doctors, water engineers, teachers and agriculturists who visit some of the world's poorest cities. The services they offer are given free of charge.

Today at 55, Ullman plans to put the focus in the latter years of his career a bit more on family and personal interests. He hopes to reverse the time he now spends in Europe (75 percent) and at home (25 percent) to 25 and 75, respectively. An appointment made by LVMH earlier this year will undoubtedly make that goal achievable, he said. LVMH appointed Antonio Belloni, former president of Procter & Gamble's European operations and an Italian, as chief operating officer. Ullman has nicknamed him "Tony Baloney." "He didn't want to move to Cincinnati, and I don't want to live in Europe, so it's perfect," Ullman summed up.

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