The owner of LVMH becomes the 3rd person in the world with a net worth exceeding $200 billion

DNHN - The fortune of the businessman behind the LVMH Group grew by $2.4 billion on April 4, according to data from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, to reach $201.1 billion.

According to Bloomberg, Bernard Arnault's fortune has officially surpassed $200 billion. After Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, he becomes the third person in the world to accomplish this feat.

The fortune of the businessman behind the LVMH Group grew by $2.4 billion on April 4, according to data from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, to reach $201.1 billion. He is also the first non-American to accomplish this.

In December 2022, billionaire Arnault surpassed electric car billionaire Elon Musk to ascend to the "throne" of the world's wealthiest billionaires. Mr. Musk's fortune was impacted by the controversies surrounding the Twitter deal, which caused Tesla shares to decline.

In the meantime, with the LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton empire, Arnault's net worth has steadily risen as the global demand for luxury goods has remained stable. The share price of LVMH is currently at an all-time high due to the group's announcement last month that it would repurchase 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion) of LVMH shares.

In addition to achieving record sales of 79.2 billion euros (over 86 billion USD) last year, the "golden egg" Louis Vuitton is estimated to have generated 20 billion euros in revenue alone (21 billion USD).

Mr. Arnault, a native of Roubaix, Northern France, graduated from the premier technical school Polytechnique. His family business, Ferret Savinel, was in the construction industry, and he worked there after graduating. He moved to the United States in 1981 and invested in real estate development. However, three years later he returned to France and began his foray into luxury with the purchase of the bankrupt textile company Boussac Saint-Freres, which owned a jewel: the Christian brand Dior.

Mr. Arnault sold the majority of the company's other businesses and used the proceeds to acquire a controlling stake in LVMH. In 1987, the LVMH group's two largest companies, Louis Vuitton and Moet Hennessy, merged. Over the next three decades, the French billionaire transformed LVMH into an "empire" specializing in the sale of luxury goods. Champagne, wine, spirits, fashion, leather goods, jewelry, fragrances, and cosmetics are available in over 5,000 locations worldwide.

Until now, the fashion and leather goods industry has contributed the most to the group, and this proportion has been steadily rising. Specifically, Louis Vuitton and Dior are the brands with the greatest growth and revenue contribution.

Additionally, the sales reports for Dior and Tiffany's first quarter will be released later this month, respectively.

Mr. Arnault cannot, despite his success, avoid failures in life. As a result of his failed attempt to acquire Hermès, this businessman was once dubbed a "wolf in a cashmere suit."

According to Reuters, Arnault first appeared on Forbes' list of billionaires in 1997, when he was worth $3.6 billion. In 2005, he entered the top 20 list of the world's wealthiest individuals with a net worth of USD 17 billion. In 2011, he ranked fourth with $41 billion in wealth.

Phuong Anh (t/h)