French businessman Bernard Arnault has become the richest man in the world beating Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. According to Forbes, Arnault, who is the owner of Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (LVMH) has a net worth of USD 186.2 billion. It is to be noted that LVMH is world’s leading fashion luxury goods company.
Forbes said that USD 538 million was spent by Arnault in recent months in order to acquire shares of his own French label brand controlled by him and his family. Earlier, Arnault had raced ahead of world’s second richest person and Tesla owner Elon Musk, after reporting a first quarter revenue of GBP 14 billion in 2021.
In January 2021, LVMH acquired America’s largest jewellery maker Tiffany & Co. for USD 15.8 million.
In 2020, LVMH recorded a revenue of GBP 44.7 billion as it sales fell by 17%. The fashion luxury brand also reported a fall in organic revenue by 16% in 2020, as compared to 2019.
Arnault oversees an empire of 70 brands including Louis Vuitton, Sephora, Tiffany & Co, Stella McCartney, Gucci, Christian Dior, Givenchy. These brands are independently managed and operated under the LVMH umbrella.
