BERNARD ARNAULT NOW RICHEST MAN IN THE WORLD
Move over, Elon Musk. Bernard Arnault is now officially the richest man in the world.
The chairman of French luxury goods giant LVMH has just become the first European to make it to the top of the list. Elon Musk is now in second place, according to Bloomberg.
LVMH owns luxury brands like Louis Vuitton, Moët and Hennessy.
Arnault began his career at Ferret-Savinel, his family’s construction company. He left the company to take over Boussac Saint-Freres, a then-bankrupt textile group that owned among other brands, Christian Dior, a famous French fashion house.
He turned the company around and made it profitable again with Christian Dior as the cornerstone of the organisation.
CNN Business reports that Arnault bought a controlling stake in LVMH in 1989, two years after the group was formed by the merger of Louis Vuitton and Moët Hennessy. He has been chairman and CEO of the company ever since.
Over the past 30 years, Arnault has added 75 luxurious labels to the LVMH group including wine, spirits, fashion, leather goods, perfumes, cosmetics, watches, jewellery, luxury travel and hotel stays.
The group even took over the world-famous American jeweller Tiffany & Co in 2021. The deal cost an estimated $15.8 billion.
Image credit: Forbes