Hyderabad: Bernard Arnault, the 74-year-old Chairman and CEO of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, has recently ascended to the pinnacle of Forbes Magazine's list of the world's wealthiest individuals, overtaking Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, Forbes reported.
The major shift in the Forbes Magazine list of the world's richest person's order was triggered by a remarkable 10% surge in fourth-quarter sales for Arnault's luxury conglomerate, driven by resilient demand in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly evident in the fourth quarter.
Who is Bernard Arnault?
Bernard Arnault, the French businessman's professional journey is deeply intertwined with LVMH, where he was assigned the role of CEO after becoming the majority shareholder in 1989. Concurrently, he holds the position of president on the board of Groupe Arnault SE, a family-owned investment firm.
Arnault's portfolio includes ownership of Dior and Tiffany, extending beyond the realms of leather goods to encompass 74 entities spanning perfumes, cosmetics, watches, jewelry, and wine and spirits companies. The latter experienced a decline in growth in the current year.
The battle for the top spot between Bernard Arnault and Elon Musk has been a protracted affair, spanning over two years. Arnault initially dethroned Musk in December 2022 amidst a tech sector downturn, while the luxury sector remained robust in the face of inflation.
LVMH achieved a historic milestone in April 2023 by becoming the first European company to surpass a $500 billion market value, propelling Arnault's net worth past Musk's once again. However, in June 2023, the Tesla CEO made a comeback, reclaiming the title of the world's richest individual following an $11.2 billion dip in Arnault's fortune in a single day.
Meanwhile, Mukesh Ambani, the chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries, holds the 11th position on the list, retaining his status as the wealthiest Indian with a net worth of $104.4 billion.
Elon Musk currently stand at the 2nd spot with a net worth of $204.7 billion, while Bernard Arnault stands tall at the top spot with $207.6 billion. The top two personalities are followed by Jeff Bezos, Executive chairman of Amazon and Larry Ellison, Chief technology officer of Oracle standing on the third and fourth place respectively.
Top 10 richest person in the world- Forbes real-time billionaires list
- Bernard Arnault & Family ($207.6 billion)
- Elon Musk ($204.7 billion)
- Jeff Bezos ($181.3 billion)
- Larry Ellison ($142.2 billion)
- Mark Zuckerberg (139.1 billion)
- Warren Buffett ($127.2 billion)
- Larry Page ($127.1 billion)
- Bill Gates ($122.9 billion)
- Sergey Brin ($121.7 billion)
- Steve Ballmer (118.8 billion).
