Forbes said that LVMH owner Bernard Arnault on January 26 surpassed Elon Musk to become the richest person on the planet.
Forbes’ real-time billionaire rankings show that Arnault’s assets are currently $207.8 billion, after increasing by $23.6 billion on January 26. Meanwhile, Musk currently owns only 204.5 billion USD. This helped Arnault surpass Musk to become the richest person in the world.
Tesla shares decreased by 13% on January 25 and only increased slightly by 0.3% yesterday. The reason is that Musk warned that the company’s revenue may grow slowly this year, because the company focuses on a new generation, cheaper electric car model, which will be produced from the middle of next year. This caused Musk’s assets to decrease by up to 18 billion USD in just one session.In contrast, LVMH shares soared on January 26, closing with an increase of 12.8%. The reason is that the company announced 2023 revenue higher than forecast, with 86.15 billion euros (93.3 billion USD), and increased the annual dividend payment.
LVMH Chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault at a press conference on January 25. Photo: Reuters
LVMH is currently the world’s largest luxury group. It owns 70 fashion and cosmetics brands, such as Sephora, Tiffany & Co, Givenchy, Christian Dior, Dom Perignon and MoΓ«t Hennessy.
In 2021, LVMH bought jewelry company Tiffany & Co for nearly 16 billion USD. This is considered the largest deal in the luxury industry in the world. Agache, Arnault’s own company, is also behind a venture capital fund called AglaΓ© Ventures. Forbes said this company has invested in many businesses such as Netflix or ByteDance – TikTok’s parent company.
Arnault is currently CEO and Chairman of LVMH. He has five children, all of whom work for LVMH. Recently, he appointed his two sons to the LVMH Board of Directors. Previously, his two other children were also members of the Board of Directors of this group. Arnault’s aim is to consolidate family control over the world’s largest luxury goods empire.
