Louis Vuitton owner Bernard Arnault supplants Jeff Bezos as the world’s richest person

Move over Jeff Bezos. Luxury goods owner Bernard Arnault is now the richest person in the world, based on the current stock price of Louis Vuitton.

Mr Arnault, who has been chairman of Louis Vuitton since he acquired a 44 per cent stake in the brand conglomerate in the late 1980s, is worth $US196 billion ($265 billion) as of Thursday. That’s slightly more than Jeff Bezos’ net worth of about $US186 billion, according to Forbes.

LVMH chief Bernard Arnault is now the richest person in the world. Credit:Bloomberg

Combined with a family holdings company, Mr Arnault now owns 47 per cent of Louis Vuitton, which had a total market value of $US416 billion as of Thursday. The stock price of the company, which owns brands including Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Bulgari, Tag Heuer, Sephora, and Hennessy, has soared more than 30 per cent in the year so far.

Louis Vuitton has had a resurgence since the COVID-19 pandemic, as many of its brands set record sales and profits in the first half of this year. The company’s second quarter revenue hit $US17.4 billion, up 14 per cent from pre-pandemic levels.

Amazon’s post-earnings slump of more than 7 per cent last week helped catapult Mr Arnault to the top spot, as Mr Bezos’ net worth declined by about $US14 billion in a single day.

Amazon’s shares lump after its earnings has seen founder Jeff Bezos lose the top spot on the world’s rich list.Credit:AP

Rounding out third place for the world’s richest person is Elon Musk, whose 22.4 per cent Tesla stake and SpaceX holdings make him worth more than $US160 billion.

This story first appeared in Business Insider. Read it here or follow BusinessInsider Australia on Facebook.

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