FILE PHOTO: Bernard Arnault (L), chairman and chief executive officer of LVMH Moet Hennessy-Louis Vuitton, speaks with Pierre Gode, LVMH Moet Hennessy-Louis Vuitton's director, during the company's annual shareholders meeting in Paris May 15, 2008. REUTERS/Charles Platiau

PARIS (Reuters) - Pierre Gode, a long-time adviser to Bernard Arnault, the multibillionaire boss of French luxury group LVMH LVMH.PA, has died aged 73 after a long illness, the company said on Friday.

“It is with great sadness that I announce the passing of Pierre Gode,” Arnault said in a statement issued by LVMH.

“Alongside my father, Jean Arnault, and then alongside me, Pierre Gode was instrumental in the creation and growth of the LVMH Group. His lively intelligence and sound judgment will be missed by all who came to know and appreciate him.”

Despite his ill-health, Gode remained an advisory member of the LVMH and Dior DIOR.PA boards.

A lawyer by training, Gode worked alongside Bernard Arnault from the mid-1980s to build up LVMH, now the world’s largest luxury group, with brands ranging from Dom Perignon champagne to fashion houses Fendi and Givenchy.

As well as advising Dior and serving as a vice-chairman of LVMH, Gode was on the board of media and advertising group Havas HAVSF.PK and a member of France's Competition Authority.