French business magnate, investor, and art collector, Bernard Arnault has been named the richest person on earth. The billionaire reached a fortune of over $200 billion, making him the third person in history to achieve this milestone after Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.
Arnault, founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, which is the world’s largest luxury goods company, has an estimated net worth of $224.4 billion as of April 2023.
His wealth increased by $39 billion this year after his company enjoyed a 30% rise in LVMH shares and the increased demand for luxury goods.
The 74-year-old who sits on the board of over 70 luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, Christian Dior, Marc Jacobs, Tiffany’s, Fenty Beauty, etc surpassed Elon Musk as the richest man with $31 billion more than Musk.
Arnault’s first time on the Forbes list of billionaires was in 1997 when he was worth $3.1 billion. He rose through the ranks until he hit the first five in 2011. For the past three years, he’s maintained the third on the list of billionaires behind SpaceX CEO, Musk, and Amazon founder, Bezos.
As head of LVMH, a position he’s held for roughly three decades (since 1989), he helped grow the company’s revenue from $4 billion to $86 billion last year.
His family is considered one of the richest families in the world. He appointed his daughter Delphine Arnault, 47 as CEO of Dior last year.
Photo : Africanews
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