Bernard Jean Etienne Arnault, CEO of luxury goods company LVMH Moët Hennessy, became the world’s richest man with his net worth passing over $200 billion as of April 2023, Bloomberg Billionaire’s Index reported on Tuesday.
The 74-year-old is only the third person in history to amass a fortune worth more than $200 billion. Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos have previously reached the milestone before their fortunes declined as technology companies' share prices fell.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Arnault's fortune grew by $2.4 billion reaching $201 billion on Tuesday. His fortune increased by $39 billion in early 2023 as LVMH shares increased by 30% due to rising demand for luxury goods among the wealthy.
For the first time ever, the world’s richest man and woman are both French. Forbes ranked the heiress of L’Oreal cosmetics Françoise Bettencourt Meyers as the richest woman in the world for the third year in a row.
LVMH has around 60 subsidiaries that manage 75 prestigious brands. Tiffany & Co., Christian Dior, Fendi, Givenchy, Marc Jacobs, Stella McCartney, Loewe, Loro Piana, Kenzo, Celine, Sephora, Princess Yachts, TAG Heuer, and Bulgari are among them.