French billionaire investor, businessman and art collector, Bernard Arnault, is the latest world richest in town, according to business news and information publisher Forbes.
The fashion tycoon and CEO of French luxury group, Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (LVMH), is the first Frenchman to occupy the number one spot on the Forbes rich list.
For the best part of the last 20 years, the top spot has previously been occupied by U.S. citizens Bezos, Tesla’s Elon Musk, Microsoft’s Bill Gates and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett.
Arnault, who oversees a global empire of 70 brands including luxury names Louis Vuitton and Sephora, is worth $186.3 billion, making him $300 million richer than Amazon founder Jeff Bezos who is worth $186 billion.
“Arnault’s fortune has jumped from $76 billion in March 2020 to $186.3 billion on Monday, a massive rise of over $110 billion in the past 14 months, thanks to a pandemic defying performance by his luxury group LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy)”.
LVMH closed a $15.8 billion acquisition of U.S. jeweller Tiffany in the middle of the pandemic.
Surging sales at Louis Vuitton and Dior powered a strong rebound at LVMH in the first part of 2021, as thriving demand in Asia and the U.S. offset the drag from new coronavirus lockdowns in much of Europe.
Overall revenues at the conglomerate, owner of brands ranging from Moet & Chandon champagne to Guerlain cosmetics, returned to growth in the first quarter at a much faster pace than expected by analysts.
Restrictions to fight the COVID-19 pandemic hit major markets such as China hard a year ago, but luxury customers have begun buying more online, and across much of Asia, stores have been open since last spring, driving a sharp recovery.
Arnault got his break by putting up $15 million from his father’s construction business to buy Christian Dior in 1985.
Today, four of Arnault’s five children, Frederic, Delphine, Antoine and Alexandre, help their father run the global empire.
