Less than a week after he was tied with Jeff Bezos for first place in the list of the world’s wealthiest men, Bernard Arnault has officially dethroned the Amazon CEO as the world’s richest man. Arnault, who leads Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessey (LMVH), the luxury goods maker, has amassed a net worth of a mind-boggling $186.4 billion, up a tiny notch from Bezos’s $186 billion.
Just a Week After Equalling Bezos
Only last week, the French businessperson had raked in an impressive $800 million to land at a net worth of $186 billion, as Louis Vuitton closed its shares at almost a half percent higher than it had started at, in Europen markets. At around the same time, Amazon shares plummeted by a little over 1 percent, making Bezos land at $186 billion as $2.3 billion.
Conglomerate of 70 Companies
LVMH is not a single company, but rather a conglomeration of some 70 firms, of which Arnault is the head. These companies include the likes of Louis Vuitton and Sephora. The businessman also owns a stake of a 96.5 percent in Christian Dior. LVMH also has a deal worth $15.8 billion with Tiffany & Co, and spent $3.2 billion on hospitality group Belmond.
LVMH was set up by Arnault in 1989, four years after he had invested $15 million to buy Christian Dior.
Stronger Than Ever
In the first quarter of 2021 alone, LVMH noted record revenues of $16.7 billion, after recovering from the pandemic stronger than ever. Since the market hit its lowest value around March last year, Arnault has amassed an additional worth of over $100 billion. Only last year, his net worth was just at $76 billion.
Meanwhile With Elon Musk
Just a day or two before he was tied with Jeff Bezos, Bernard Arnault had taken over the 2nd richest man spot from Tesla Head Elon Musk, who company saw a fall in shares last week. The reason for the drop was attributed to the falling prices of cryptocurrency, with which Tesla has significant dealings.
