PARIS, Dec 17: Billionaire and chairman of the LVMH luxury brand Bernard Arnault (pron: berna arno) is the richest man in the world, having displaced American tech giant and Tesla
CEO Elon Musk from the spot. His estimated net worth is $188.6 billion, in a
land that discounts wealth! Musk is now second with a total net worth of $178.6
billion.
Musk, 51, lost the top slot as the Tesla owner's wealth dropped after Twitter
acquisition. He had overtaken Amazon founder Jeff Bezos as the richest person
in September, 2021. Tesla stock has lost more than half its value since January
and Twitter acquisition pushed him further down. A loss of more than $100 billion!
Bernard Arnault, 73, owns 48% of the luxury fashion conglomerate LVMH - Moët
Hennessy Louis Vuitton ('mo-ei he-na-see' 'loo-ee-veeto'). LVMH is a French
holding multinational corporation specializing in luxury goods. Its headquarters
is in Paris.
LVMH owns 75 brands - wine, spirits, fashion, leather goods, perfumes, cosmetics,
watches, jewellery and luxury travel. There are 5,500 stores worldwide. In 2021,
LVMH acquired American jewellery behemoth Tiffany & Co. for $15.8 billion. Some
of the LVMH brands are Givenchy ('zhee-vawn-shee'), Fendi and Stella McCartney, Dom Perignon ('dom perringo'), Christian Dior ("kri-stee-an-dee-aw'), Tiffany & Co.
LVMH hospitality group Belmond owns or manages 46 hotels, trains and river
cruises. Much of his wealth comes from Christian Dior.
Bernard Arnault began his career at his family's construction business, Ferret-
Savinel, in his native place of Roubaix in northern France. He slowly emerged
as the leader of the luxury market and acquired LVMH in 1989. LVMH was formed
after the merger of Louis Vuitton and Moët Hennessy. Since then he has been
the chairman and CEO.
The turnover of LVMH's fashion and cosmetics brands last year was $68 billion.
It has a market value of $386 billion.
Arnault lives a quiet, low-profile life, with very few public appearances.
When private jets of billionaires came into focus over carbon emissions recently,
Arnault sold his jet. He is an art collector. Has controlled diet. And plays
tennis.
LVMH lifted the age limit for CEO from 75 to 80 this year, so he can stay longer.
Bernard Arnault has five children - two from first partner Anne Dewavrin and
three from wife Hélène Mercier. The eldest, daughter Delphine is Louis Vuitton
executive and is set to take over from Bernard Arnault.
