World’s leading fashion luxury goods company Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessey (LMVH) owner Bernard Arnault dethroned Amazon founder Jeff Bezos as the world’s richest man. The French business tycoon’s net worth was recorded at $198.9 billion, according to Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List.
Meanwhile, Bezos’s net worth stood at $194.9 billion followed by Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk at $185.5 billion.
Arnault spent $538 million dollars in recent months acquiring shares of his own French label brand controlled by him and his family.
Bezos’ net worth tanked by $590 million and stands at $193.8 billion whereas Musk, who is also a cryptocurrency enthusiast has a net worth of $184.7 billion, as per the Forbes’ list. Amazon stock cratered 7.6 per cent on Friday after the company reported second-quarter earnings.
This isn’t the first time Arnault has led the list of the world’s wealthiest people. In December 2019, January 2020, May 2021, and July 2021, he reached number one.
LVHM oversees an empire of 70 brands including Louis Vuitton, Sephora, Tiffany & Co, Stella McCartney, Gucci, Christian Dior, Givenchy which are independently managed and operated under the LVMH umbrella.
Arnault was born on March 5, 1949, in Roubaix, the third-largest city in France. He studied engineering at the Ecole Polytechnique, a prestigious school. For the unversed, Arnault’s father made a small fortune in construction. Arnault got his start by putting up $15 million from that business to buy Christian Dior in 1985.
In 1989, Arnault became the majority shareholder of LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton, thereby creating the world’s leading luxury products group. Note that four of Arnault’s five children work in corners of the LVMH empire: Frédéric, Delphine, Antoine and Alexandre.
