LVMH chair Bernard Arnault dethrones Elon Musk as world’s richest man

By Alessandro Carrara 14-Dec-2022

Finance | Retail

Arnault, who co-founded LVMH in 1987, has an estimated net worth of $186.7bn

Bernard Arnault co-founded LVMH in 1987

LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault has claimed the title of world’s richest person, after dethroning Elon Musk.

The French business magnate and investor’s wealth stands at US$186.7bn at the time of writing, over $10bn ahead of the SpaceX founder.

This is according to Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires List, which tracks the net worth of the planet’s wealthiest individuals.

Arnault began his professional career at his father’s construction firm Ferret-Savinel, serving as its President for six years.

He would later step into the luxury sector with his acquisition of Financière Agache, a French consumer goods company.

From this he came up with the idea of creating a business group of luxury brands.

Working with Alain Chevalier, CEO of Moët Hennessy, and Henry Racamier, President of Louis Vuitton, they formed LVMH in 1987.

The luxury giant is now worth an estimated €363bn in 2022, and its portfolio includes some of the beauty industry’s most influential businesses.

These encompass names like Parfums Christian Dior, Fenty Beauty by Rihanna, Guerlain and Stella by Stella McCartney

What’s going on with Musk?

A 6% drop in shares at Musk’s Tesla company on Monday resulted in an estimated loss of $7.4bn in the company.

A day later it dropped a further $4.5bn to $176.8bn, placing Musk as second on Forbes’ list.

Stocks in Tesla are now valued to be 60% less than at the start of 2022 and investors, as a result of the fluctuating shares, have remained cautious.

The situation was further exacerbated by the South African-born entrepreneur’s turbulent acquisition of Twitter in October.

Musk slashed nearly half of the social media platform’s 7,500-strong workforce shortly after purchasing the company, admitting there had been a “massive drop” in revenues.

This was followed up by an email to remaining employees stating they would be required to work “long hours at high intensity" or leave the company.

Musk’s other business ventures include stepping into the world of beauty with the launch of a new fragrance which is meant to smell like Burnt Hair.

The scent retails for $100 on Musk’s website, The Boring Company, and has been described as the “essence of repugnant desire”.

After revealing the product on Twitter, Musks claim to have sold 20,000 bottles within the first 24 hours - taking home around $2m.