Musk dethroned as world’s richest by luxury mogul Arnault

Bernard Arnault, the chairman of French luxury goods giant LVMH, has just become the first European to top Bloomberg’s list of the world’s richest people, dethroning Tesla boss Elon Musk.

Now worth $171 billion, Arnault’s wealth eclipsed the Tesla CEO’s $164 billion fortune on Tuesday, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Arnault had already ousted Musk from the top spot on Forbes’ list of “Real Time Billionaires” last week.

The net worth of Musk, who had been occupying the throne as the world’s wealthiest for several months in row after toppling Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, has tumbled by $107 billion this year, according to Bloomberg. Arnault’s wealth, which stems from his controlling stake in LVMH, has suffered a more modest $7 billion decline.

The 51-year-old Twitter owner saw his fortune, at one point worth $340 billion, falling relentlessly since January to $163.6 billion. That makes Arnault, the 73-year-old who owns 48 per cent of fashion company LVMH and is worth $170.8 billion, the wealthiest person on the planet.

For Musk, who had been basking in limelight for his game-changing space and technology initiatives, the setback is the latest in a roller-coaster year that saw him acquiring Twitter for $44 billion — which he attempted to pull out of for months — causing him to offload more than $15 billion in Tesla shares by August to fund the purchase.

When the deal was finalized in October, the Bloomberg wealth index subtracted $10 billion from Musk's fortune, and the road ahead for Twitter looks rocky: The company is on track to see annual interest costs that surpass a measure of its earnings for 2021.

Arnault, who has long held a spot in the world's wealthiest people rankings, has transformed LVMH into a luxury goods giant over the past 30 years with 75 labels selling wine, spirits, fashion, leather goods, perfumes, cosmetics, watches, jewelry, luxury travel and hotel stays. LVMH also completed a $15.8 billion acquisition of Tiffany & Co in January 2021.

While Tesla share price has plummeted 54 per cent this year, LVMH stock has held steady, supported by robust sales in the US and Europe. The luxury market has remained relatively steady this year, even as surging inflation has led less-affluent shoppers to change their spending habits. LVMH has a market value of $386 billion.

Wealth management experts said Musk likely won't fall further down the list of top billionaires anytime soon as spots three and four go to Indian tycoon Gautam Adani and Amazon boss Jeff Bezos, who boast $125 billion and $116 billion fortunes, respectively.

Born in Roubaix in the north of France in 1949, Arnault graduated from the prestigious École Polytechnique, an engineering school in Paris. He began his career in the family-owned construction company, Ferret-Savinel, becoming chairman in 1978 after successive promotions. Six years later, he got wind that the French government was looking for a new investor to take over Boussac Saint-Freres. The bankrupt textile group owned a key asset: Christian Dior, a celebrated French fashion house.

Arnault bought control of the group, returning it to profitability and embarking on a strategy to develop the world’s leading luxury goods company. He bought a controlling stake in LVMH in 1989, two years after the group was formed by the merger of Louis Vuitton and Moët Hennessy. He has been chairman and CEO of the company ever since. issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com

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