Leadership Transitions and Intangible Capital in Luxury Fashion Firms: Evidence from Founder and Creative Director Exits

This thesis examines whether leadership transitions in luxury fashion firms are associated with changes in accounting-based intangible capital and selected financial indicators. The analysis focuses on founder-related exits and creative director turnovers using an event-based panel dataset of 39 transitions observed over a t-3/+3 window. The results show no significant average post-event effect on intangible intensity or financial performance. However, exploratory evidence suggests heterogeneous patterns across role categories, with hybrid figures showing a relatively more negative post-event change in intangible intensity in exploratory analyses. The findings highlight both the relevance of leadership roles in luxury brand identity and the limits of accounting measures in capturing internally developed intangible capital.