The billionaire chairman and Chief and Executive Officer (CEO) of the esteemed worldwide luxury goods firm LVMH, Bernard Arnault, has overtaken Tesla’s Elon Musk to become the richest person in the world in a stunning financial twist.
Arnault and his family experienced a surge in their net worth, reaching an impressive $207.8 billion after a substantial $23.6 billion increase on Friday, as reported by the Forbes real-time billionaires list.
This noteworthy development propelled Arnault ahead of Musk, whose net worth stood at $204.5 billion.
The shift in rankings coincided with a challenging day for Musk and Tesla in the stock market, as Tesla faced a 13% decline on Thursday, causing Musk to lose over $18 billion in net worth.
Contrastingly, LVMH shares were on the rise on Friday, boasting a remarkable 13% increase as of 11 a.m., fueled by news of robust sales.
This positive momentum contributed to LVMH’s market cap reaching $388.8 billion, although still trailing behind Tesla’s $586.14 billion market cap.
Notably, LVMH’s financial prowess was fortified in 2021 when it acquired Tiffany & Co. for nearly $16 billion, marking the largest luxury brand acquisition in history.
Arnault’s holding company, Agache, also supports Aglaé Ventures, a venture capital firm known for investments in prominent businesses such as Netflix and ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, according to Forbes.
At the age of 74, Arnault initially overtook Musk in wealth in December, marking a significant milestone in the ongoing narrative of the world’s wealthiest individuals.