Fortune of world’s richest person Bernard Arnault tops $200bn
The fortune of Bernard Arnault, the world’s richest person, has topped $200bn for the first time as shares in his French LVMH luxury goods empire hit a record high.
The 74-year-old has become only the third person in history to amass an estimated fortune above the $200bn (£160bn) threshold. Tesla’s Elon Musk and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos have previously hit the milestone before their fortunes dropped back as technology companies share prices fell.
Arnault’s fortune increased by $2.4bn on Tuesday to hit $201bn, according to the daily-updated Bloomberg billionaires index. His wealth has increased by $39bn so far this year as shares in LVMH have risen 30%, thanks to soaring demand for luxury goods among the world’s wealthy.
The French billionaire is now $25bn richer than Musk, whose fortune has been knocked by his$44bn purchase of Twitter and a 50% fall in the value of the electric car company Tesla over the past year. Musk is Tesla’s co-founder, chief executive and 13% shareholder.
Bezos, who was the first person to hit the $200bn milestone in August 2020, is currently the world’s third-richest person, with a $128bn fortune.
Arnault is the chairman and chief executive of LVMH, which owns Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and Moët & Chandon champagne. Its shares have shot up by more than 150% in the past three years, hitting a new high of €853 on Wednesday morning.
LVMH last year achieved record sales of €79.2bn and has begun a €1.5bn share buyback programme, which has helped further lift the share price.
Arnault, who co-founded the luxury goods group 35 years ago and is its majority shareholder, has recently appointed his children to key roles within the business. In January his eldest child, Delphine, was named the head of Christian Dior,
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