Elon Musk’s reign as the wealthiest person in the world came to an end on Tuesday after he lost nearly $4 billion in wealth in a day. The Tesla, SpaceX CEO and new Twitter boss, who was on the top spot since taking it in 2021, has now dropped down to second, making Bernard Arnault the new richest billionaire in the world.
The 73-year-old is leading both the Forbes and Bloomberg Billionaires rich list with a net worth of $188.6 billion and $171 billion respectively. Arnault, the French tycoon behind luxury-goods powerhouse LVMH, has topped the Bloomberg rich list for the first time. It is not just a first for Arnault but France — or Europe as a whole — too, as no one from the region has even bagged the top spot.
Earlier this month, Musk briefly lost the top spot on the Forbes’ billionaire list to Arnault.
Who is Bernard Arnault?
Born to an industrial family in Roubaix, France on March 5, 1949, Arnault is the Chairman and CEO of LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton, the world’s leading luxury products group. The 73-year-old is known to maintain a low profile, as against his predecessor Musk.
The world’s new richest man started his career as an engineer with the Ferret-Savinel construction company and successively was promoted to various executive management positions before becoming its Chairman in 1978. Arnault remained there until 1984, when he undertook the reorganisation of the Financière Agache holding company.
In 1989, he became the majority shareholder of LVMH – Louis Vuitton, creating the world’s leading luxury products group. Arnault has been Chairman and CEO of the company since then.
Under him, LVMH has transformed into a luxury behemoth selling Champagne, wine, spirits, fashion, leather goods, watches, jewellery, hotel stays, perfume, and cosmetics through more than 5,500 stores worldwide.
Bernard Arnault’s net worth of $171 billion is equivalent to 0.743 per cent of the GDP of the United States and 2.38 per cent of the total wealth of the 500 richest people in the world.
The company is one of the world’s most valuable luxury products groups with 64.2 billion euros ($76 billion) revenue in 2021. Half of LVMH is controlled by Arnault. According to Bloomberg’s wealth index estimates, a major share of Arnault’s fortune is from his 97.5 per cent stake in Christian Dior.
The billionaire has five children from two marriages – all of whom currently work at the LVMH firm or one of its brands.
