Bernard Arnault, the chairman and CEO of luxury goods conglomerate LVMH used to be the richest person in the world just in September this year. However, he has slipped down to fifth place in the billionaire ranks since.
Also Read: 2024 IPOs: Ones that flew over the market’s best
Arnault currently has a net worth of $176 billion. However, this figure is after taking into account of him losing a net $32 billion year-to-date, according to the Bloomberg billionaires Index.
He is no stranger to becoming the richest and then losing that title multiple times, first becoming the richest in August 2021 due to a sharp rise of luxury goods sales in Asia.
This was followed by a drop again and a rise once in 2022 and 2023 each. However, 2024 saw him regain the title again in May.
He then lost it again in September following a 20% fall in his company’s shares, which was a huge $54 billion loss due to falling revenues.
Also Read: What gets cheaper, what is costlier after GST Council meet? Details here
LVMH’s’s CFO Jean-Jacques Guiony attributed the company’s revenue drop to the ongoing geopolitical tensions across the globe.
Currently Bernard Arnault occupies fifth place in the Billionaires Index, behind Elon Musk’s $444 billion net worth, Jeff Bezos’ $244 billion, Mark Zuckerberg’s $207 billion, and Larry Ellison’s $190 billion.
He is the only billionaire in the consumer luxury goods business wile everyone else in the top 5 list is in the tech industry. This is true even below him till 10th place with Warren Buffett being the only other exception at exactly 10th place.
Also Read: Amazon Prime goes the Netflix way, cracks down on password sharing from 2025
LVMH currently has around 75 brands encompassing wines & spirits, fashion & leather goods, perfumes & cosmetics, watches & jewelry, and retail.
Some of these brands include Christian Dior, Bulgari, Givenchy, TAG Heuer, Hublot, Sephora, Tiffany & Co, and so on. This is apart from the company’s wines & spirits division which includes big names like Chandon, Château d’Yquem, and Château Cheval Blanc.