French luxury-goods magnate Bernard Arnault has dropped out of the world’s ten richest people, giving way in a ranking that now consists entirely of Americans, mostly technology billionaires. Bloomberg reports, writes UNN.
Details
It is noted that French luxury magnate Bernard Arnault, the founder of Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH), lost his place in the top ten, with his fortune falling below that of American investor Warren Buffett.
Elon Musk leads the list by a wide margin, with a fortune of $918.8 billion. He is followed by technology entrepreneurs, including Larry Page, Jeff Bezos, Sergey Brin and Michael Dell. For the first time since the wealth index was launched in 2012, all ten top positions are held by Americans.
Arnault’s decline in wealth has been particularly noticeable since the beginning of the year. The 77-year-old billionaire’s fortune has fallen by $65 billion—the largest drop among the world’s 500 richest people. The war in the Middle East has severely hit his business, reducing demand in shopping hubs such as Dubai for LVMH brands—from clothing makers Dior, Louis Vuitton and Tiffany to premium alcohol, including Dom Perignon champagne and Hennessy cognac. The company has also faced difficulties in China, a key market for it, where a trademark dispute with a local tea producer has negatively affected sales.
Shares of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE rose 0.5% in Friday morning trading in Paris. The previous day, the company briefly lost its status as France’s largest company by market capitalization to L’Oreal SA.
Meanwhile, the U.S. stock index S&P 500 has risen 11% since the beginning of the year, driven to a significant extent by technology companies amid demand related to artificial intelligence.
Arnault had been among the world’s ten richest people since March 22, 2017, and briefly held the top position starting in December 2022. He was the first person from outside North America—and the only representative of the consumer-goods industry—to top the ranking. Since then, no one has managed to repeat this achievement.