Who is Bernard Arnault and what is his net worth?
BERNARD Arnault is comfortably one of the richest people in the world, after running the largest luxury goods company on earth since 1987.
Here, we look at his career, and how he started off.
Who is Bernard Arnault?
Bernard Arnault is a French business magnate, investor, and art collector.
Arnaut was born March 5, 1949, in Roubaix, France.
He is the founder, chairman, and CEO of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the world's largest luxury goods company.
He founded this group along with Alain Chevalier and Henry Racamier, with the vision of creating a group of luxury brands.
What is Bernard Arnault’s net worth?
Arnault is estimated to be currently worth $204.7billion (around £170billion).
He is the richest man in the world on Forbes real time billionaires list, as of March 2023.
He is regularly featured in the top five of the annual Forbes Rich List, placing third in 2022 behind Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.
What does the Arnault family own?
The family owns a wide range of luxury companies.
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LVMH empire is home to some 70 fashion and cosmetics brands, including Louis Vuitton and Sephora.
In January 2021, LVMH acquired American jeweller Tiffany & Co for $15.8billion (around £13.8billion), believed to be the biggest luxury brand acquisition ever.
LVMH spent $3.2billion (around £2.8billion) in 2019 for luxury hospitality group Belmond, which owns or manages 46 hotels, trains and river cruises.
How much money did Bernard Arnault start with?
His father was an incredibly wealthy man from his work in construction.
Manufacturer Jean Léon Arnault owned the civil engineering company Ferret-Savinel.
From this, Arnaut was able to start up with just over £12million to put towards buying Christian Dior in 1985 along with other investors.
He went on to form LVMH in 1987 when he got together with Alain Chevalier, CEO of Moët Hennessy, and Henry Racamier, president of Louis Vuitton, to merge as one large company.
Arnault ousted Racamier in 1990 and started to sweep a slew of fashion companies into the LVMH fold.
In 2021, with a valuation of $329billion (around £288billion), LVMH became the most valuable company in Europe.