Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is no longer the world’s richest person – that spot has been taken by Bernard Arnault, Chairman and Chief Executive of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, according to Forbes real-time billionaires list that tracks everyday how much the world’s richest are worth.
The Forbes list is dynamic and may change at any time.
Based on the current stock price of Louis Vuitton, Forbes reports that Luxury goods owner Bernard Arnault is now the richest person in the world.
Arnault, 72, oversees an empire of 70 brands including Louis Vuitton and Sephora. He is worth $198.2 billion at the moment, according to the Forbes list.
The Forbes list mentions that four of Mr Arnault’s five children work in corners of the LVMH empire – Frederic, Delphine, Antoine and Alexandre.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is worth $194.9 billion in the second spot. Forbes says Amazon thrived during the COVID-19 pandemic; its revenues in 2020 grew 38 percent to $386 billion as people stayed home and made online purchases.
Tesla’s Elon Musk, 50, holds the third spot with $185.5 billion. Mr Musk had at one point become the richest.
According to LVMH first half performance report, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the world’s leading high-quality products group, recorded revenue of 28.7 billion euros in the first half of 2021, up 56% compared to the same period in 2020.
Organic revenue growth was 53% compared to 2020 and 11% compared to 2019. This performance reflects accelerated growth in the second quarter of 2021, which saw organic revenue increase by 14% compared to 8% in the first quarter.
The first half of this year marks a return to strong growth momentum after a severely disrupted year in 2020 resulting from the global pandemic. The largest business group, Fashion & Leather Goods, achieved record levels of revenue with organic growth of 81% compared to 2020, and 38% compared to 2019. The United States and Asia are up sharply since the start of the year while Europe is experiencing a gradual recovery.
Insider reports Louis Vuitton has seen a resurgence since the COVID-19 pandemic, with many of its brands setting record sales and profits in the first half of 2021. The company saw second-quarter revenue hit $17.4 billion, up 14% from pre-pandemic levels.
Combined with a family holdings company, Arnault now owns 47% of Louis Vuitton, which had a total market value of $416 billion as of Thursday. The company, which owns brands including Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Bulgari, Tag Heuer, Sephora, and Hennessy, has seen its stock price soar more than 30% year-to-date, reports Insider.
Last week, Amazon announced an earnings slump of roughly 7 percent — which meant that Bezos likely lost about $14 billion in a single day. Combined, these two factors led to the Blue Origin founder losing his top spot as the world’s richest man.
(With inputs from the agencies).
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