How much is Bernard Arnault worth?
| Net Worth: | $200 billion |
|---|---|
| Title: | Chief Executive Officer of LVMH |
| Date of Birth: | 5 March 1949 |
| Country: | United States of America |
| Height: | 6 ft |
About Bernard Arnault
In April of 1999, he surpassed Amancio Ortega, the owner of Zara, to become the richest individual in the fashion industry. Arnault’s compensation for his role as CEO of the LVMH group in 2016 was €7.8 million euros. Arnault’s fortune was estimated to be $103 billion, making him the second-richest person on the planet as of July 2019, according to Forbes.
Arnault surpassed Jeff Bezos to become the richest person in the world for a short period of time in December 2019 and again for a short period of time in January 2020. Arnault’s fortune decreased by $30 billion as a direct result of the COVID-19 epidemic, which occurred when demand for luxury products fell.
As a result of an increase in sales of LVMH’s luxury items in China as well as other parts of Asia in 2021, his net worth as of January 2023 was $213 billion, making him the wealthiest person in the world. It is commonly accepted that his family is the wealthiest family in the world. Picasso, Yves Klein, Henry Moore, and Andy Warhol are just few of the artists whose works are included in Arnault’s collection.
After receiving his degree in 1971 from École Polytechnique, the most prestigious engineering school in France, he started working for the business that was owned by his father. Arnault started his professional life in 1971 at Ferret-Savinel, where he would later serve as president from 1978 to 1984.
In the 1980s, Arnault came up with the concept of establishing a conglomerate of luxury brands. In 1987, he was a co-founder of LVMH along with Alain Chevalier, who was the CEO of Moet Hennessy, and Henry Racamier, who was the president of Louis Vuitton.
In 1984, Arnault, who was a young real estate developer at the time, learned that the French government was going to appoint someone to take over the Boussac Saint-Frères empire. Boussac Saint-Frères was a textile and retail company that owned Christian Dior.
After assuming leadership, Arnault guided the firm through an ambitious development plan, making it into one of the largest luxury groups in the world. It now ranks among the top three largest luxury companies in the world, alongside the Swiss luxury powerhouse Richemont and the French-based Kering.
Over the course of eleven years, LVMH’s annual revenues and profits increased by a factor of five, while the company’s market value increased by a factor of fifteen. Céline was purchased by Arnault in July of 1988.
Through his holding company Europatweb, Arnault made investments in a number of different web firms between the years 1998 and 2001. Some of these companies include Boo.com, Libertysurf, and Zebank. Additionally, Groupe Arnault made an investment in Netflix in the year 1999.
In 2008, he launched his firm in the yachting industry by purchasing Princess Yachts for a total of 253 million euros. After that, for a price that was essentially the same, he acquired complete control of Royal van Lent.
Arnault was the owner of the converted research vessel Amadeus, which measured 70 meters (230 feet) in length and was sold in late 2015. His latest yacht, Symphony, is 101.5 meters (333 feet) in length and was constructed in the Netherlands by Feadship.
Forbes estimates that Arnault and his family have a net worth of US$188.6 billion as of December 2022. This makes Arnault the richest person in the world, surpassing Elon Musk, whose fortunes have suffered as a result of Musk’s management of his Twitter purchase.
LVMH has reached a record market capitalization of 313 billion euros ($382 billion) as of May 2021, thanks in great part to the leadership of Arnault. This figure represents the company’s position as the largest in the eurozone.
As a method of conducting business, Arnault has pushed for decisions that will decentralize the brands owned by the firm. As a consequence of these actions, companies that fall under the LVMH umbrella, such as Tiffany, are nonetheless regarded as independently operating businesses that have their own history.
As of the 5th of August 2021, he was once again recognized as the richest man on the planet due to the fact that his net worth has increased to a staggering $198.4 billion. This happened as a result of an increase in sales of LVMH’s luxury items in China as well as other parts of Asia. On the Forbes list of billionaires, he is included under the heading “Bernard Arnault & Family”. Forbes projects that the fortune owned by Bernard Arnault and his family will be worth $158 billion in 2022, putting him ahead of Bill Gates in terms of wealth.
Summing-Up
In October 2022, Arnault said that LVMH had sold its private jet after a Twitter user began tracking its movements. Arnault also revealed that he had been renting private planes for his personal and business travels as a replacement. The airplane was a Bombardier Global 7500 and it was given the registration number F-GVMA.
