According to news reports Fashion Tycoon; Bernard Arnault is now the Richest Person in the world. The Frenchman achieved this feat on Monday the 24th of May 2021 with a net worth (estimated of course), of 186.3 billion United States Dollars and effectively dethroned Elon Musk who is worth 147.3 billion United States Dollars.
Bernard Arnault fortune increased from 76 billion United States Dollars in March of 2020 to 186.3 billion United States Dollars in May 2021 (the 24th to be precise). This represents an enormous increase of more than 110 billion United States Dollars over a period of 14 months brought about by the impressive performance (despite the still ongoing Coronavirus pandemic) of the luxury group he owns; LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy).
During the first hours of trading for Monday the 24th of May 2021 the luxury group; LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy) increased by 0.4 percent. This put its market cap at 320 billion United States Dollars and increased Bernard Arnault’s personal stake by more than 600 million United States Dollars. The luxury group LVMH also owns household brands like Givenchy, Fendi, and Christian Dior.
The French tycoon; Bernard Arnault and LVMH are proof of the incredible growth of fashion houses and luxury houses from Europe during the lockdown brought on by the Coronavirus pandemic.
According to Jefferies analyst; Flavio Cereda the LVMH luxury group achieved a revenue growth of 17 billion United States Dollars in the first quarter of 2021. This is seen as a direct result of the momentum of shoppers in China and an increase of 32 percent when compared to the same time period in 2020.
From the 18th of March 2020 to the 24th of May 2021 the net worth of Bernard Arnault’s rival; François Pinault who via Kering Group owns luxury brands like Alexander McQueen, Gucci, and Saint Laurent, grew from 27 billion United States Dollars to 55.1 billion United States Dollars.
For Chanel which is not a publicly traded establishment, the Alain Wertheimer and Gerard Wertheimer brothers who are grandsons of founder; Pierre Wertheimer are now worth 35 billion United States Dollars. This is more than two times their previous net worth of 17 billion United States Dollars that was the case in 2020.
Francoise Bettencourt Meyers who is the granddaughter of the founder of L’Oréal also experienced an almost 40 billion United States Dollar increase to 87.8 billion United States Dollars on Monday the 24th of May 2021.
The very echelon of the Forbes Billionaire list has over the past couple of years been predominantly occupied by Americans.
The Number One spot on the list for example, has been occupied by Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and Warren Buffet for the better part of the past 20 years. The four individuals are all citizens of the United States.
The only exception before now, has been Carlos Slim who is a Mexican and was able shake things up at the top, for a significant period of time.
At the start of the century and for a couple of years the richest Europeans, were the founders of Aldi; Theo Albrecht and Karl Albrecht who achieved success with budget supermarkets. While they were regulars in the Top 10, they were never quite able to make it to the Number One position.
Bernard Arnault first made his debut in the Top 10 in the middle of 2005 with a net worth of 13 billion United States Dollars. He has been on the Top 5 since 2018 and was Number 11 in the previous year.
In 2019, he became the 3rd richest individual in the world with a net worth of 76 billion United States Dollars. On the 16th of December 2019 he briefly became the world’s richest man, moving past Jeff Bezos in the process. Amazon’s stocks however increased in value, helping Bezos to claim back the Number zone spot.
Since the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic, the net worth of the world’s wealthiest individuals have been not so stable with the differences getting as much as a couple of billions of United States Dollars.
For example in January of 2021 Elon Musk became the richest individual in the world for sometime when his net worth hit 189.7 billion United States Dollars. This was an increase of 165 billion United States Dollars since March of 2020 when the net worth for the Tesla Founder, stood at 24.6 billion United States Dollars.
How informative was this article? Are there any other news topics, categories, or How To topics, that you would like us to write on? Feel free to reach out to Mpesa Pay in the comment section.
