Bernard Arnault, Chairman and CEO of Louis Vuitton (LVMH).
Bernard Arnault, Chairman and CEO of Louis Vuitton (LVMH) and the world’s richest man, saw his fortune exceed $200 billion as shares of the company hit a record high, as per a report in The Guardian. He became the third person ever to reach such heights of personal wealth. The milestone was earlier achieved by Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Amazon’s Founder Jeff Bezos before their wealth declined as the share prices of these technology companies fell.
According to the daily-updated Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Mr Arnault’s net worth rose by $2.4 billion to $201 billion on Tuesday. Due to the soaring demand for luxury goods among the world’s rich, his fortune has increased by $39 billion this year as LVMH shares have increased 30 per cent.
The value of his holdings in Christian Dior, which according to Bloomberg controls nearly half of LVMH of which Mr Arnault holds a 97.5 per cent stake, increased by $2.42 billion on Tuesday, as the shares of both businesses maintained their upward trend.
It is to be noted that the $44 billion acquisition of Twitter by Mr Musk and a 50 per cent decline in the value of the electric vehicle manufacturer over the past year have reduced his wealth by $25 billion. With a $128 billion fortune, Jeff Bezos is now the third richest person in the world and was the first to reach the $200 billion mark in August 2020.
Mr Arnault owns about half of the massive luxury brand company. In 1989, he acquired a controlling stake in LVMH. The company’s portfolio of brands includes Louis Vuitton, Bulgari, Tiffany, Sephora, TAG Heuer and Dom Perignon champagne.
The world’s richest man has also appointed his children to important positions within the company. Delphine, the eldest of his children, was named the head of the second-largest brand in the empire Christian Dior. The position of managing the holding firm that oversees LVMH and Mr Arnault’s family fortune was given to her brother Antoine, as per the outlet. Frederic Arnault is the CEO of TAG Heuer, Alexandre Arnault is an executive at Tiffany and Jean Arnault, who is the youngest of the Arnault siblings, is in charge of marketing and product development for Louis Vuitton’s watch department.