Bernard Arnault Is Now Worth More Than Jeff Bezos And Mark Zuckerberg Combined

The surge in value of one luxury goods company has catapulted its CEO further up the world’s richest list. Here’s a look at just how much Bernard Arnault is worth now.

What Happened: A legend in the fashion and luxury goods space, Bernard Arnault is the CEO and chairman of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton LVMUYLVMHF.

Over the years, Arnault has climbed up the ranking of the world’s richest people, thanks to the increasing value of LVMH.

The rise of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, however, knocked Arnault down the list before the latter was able to pass Musk toward the end of 2022. After a brief second-place rank behind Musk in early 2023, Arnault is back on top of the Bloomberg Billionaires List and has a commanding lead.

Arnault has a listed wealth of $212 billion, making him the richest person in the world. The next closest to Arnault is Musk at $180 billion.

This year, Arnault has added $49.7 billion to his wealth, one of the biggest gains across the list.

What’s even more incredible is Arnault is worth more than the combined wealth of several notable individuals.

With a wealth of $212 billion, Arnault is currently worth more than Amazon founder Jeff Bezos ($127 billion) and Meta Platforms co-founder Mark Zuckerberg ($81.4 billion) combined. Bezos and Zuckerberg rank third and thirteenth on the billionaires list respectively. 

Musk saw his wealth soar in 2021 to levels over $250 billion. At one point in 2021, the Tesla CEO was worth more than the combined value of every MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL team combined.

Musk also set an unfortunate Guinness World Record for the largest recorded drop in wealth in 2022 when Tesla shares dipped significantly. 

Related Link: French Fashion Giant LVMH Enters Into World Top 10

Why It’s Important: LVMH stock has soared in value and is now up 42% in the last year. The stock hit all-time highs recently and is showing no signs of slowing down after reporting first-quarter results.

In the first quarter, LVMH saw sales up 17% year-over-year. The company’s selective retailing and fashion & leather goods categories saw year-over-year growth of 30% and 18% respectively.

Despite macroeconomic trends and high inflation worldwide, the company reported strong growth momentum and robust demand.

LVMH owns popular brands like Louis Vuitton, Sephora, TAG Heuer, Christian Dior, Celine, Moet & Chandon, Hennessy and Tiffany.

Arnault, meanwhile, has served as CEO and chairman for decades. Along with his family, Arnault owns over 40% of LVMH and over 90% of Christian Dior.

Thanks to the surge in its share price, LVMH is now one of the 12 largest public companies in the world by market capitalization, worth more than the likes of Exxon Mobil, Taiwan Semiconductor, Tencent, JPMorgan Chase, Walmart and Procter & Gamble.

Read Next: Wealth Gap: French Protestors Storm LVMH Headquarters 

Photo: Wikimedia Commons