For Bernard Arnault, this year started the way the old one ended: with superlatives. In December, he dethroned Elon Musk as the richest person in the world. The assets of his family business, the LVMH Group, were recently estimated by Forbes at $212 billion. In January, the company finally announced a new record turnover: the luxury goods group achieved sales of almost 80 billion euros in 2022, more than ever before. Neither the ongoing pandemic in China, nor the war in Ukraine, nor inflation appear to be hurting sales of luxury brands, of which LVMH now has 75. The Forbes list of the richest people re-ranked Bernard Arnault as number one. But how did the 73-year-old entrepreneur get his fortune?

That’s what it’s about

• Bernard Arnault has been considered the richest person in the world since Thursday.

• Arnault was born in Roubaix in 1949 into a family of industrialists. 

•  Already at the age of 29 he took over the chairmanship of a construction company. Since 1989 he has owned LVMH, the world’s leading luxury goods brand.

Bernard Arnault was born on March 5, 1949 in Roubaix, France, into a family of industrialists. He attended the Lycée de Roubaix and the Lycée de Faidherbe in Lille. He then studied at the Ecole Polytechnique. During his studies, he began working as an engineer for the Ferret-Savinel construction company, and in 1978 he became President of the company.

Louis Vuitton, Moët & Chandon and Hennessy are owned by Arnault

From 1984 he took over the reorganization of the holding company Financière Agache and made the Christian Dior brand the cornerstone of the company. With his father’s money he bought the company for 15 million dollars, today he owns 70 percent of the luxury brand. Since 1989, Arnault has also been the CEO and principal owner of LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton, the world’s leading luxury goods group, which includes 75 fashion and cosmetics companies, including the shoe brand Birkenstock alongside Moët & Chandon, Hennessy and Louis Vuitton. He is also President of his own family’s holding company. While casino en ligne and roulette en ligne are quite popular in France, he focussed only on expanding his business.

Arnault has five children from two marriages. Four of them now work in his company LVMH, as ” Forbes ” reports. He has been married to the pianist Hélène Mercier-Arnault since 1991. He also plays the piano and collects contemporary art. In 2014 he opened the Louis Vuitton Foundation, a private museum in Paris. He also initiated the international competition LVMH Young Fashion Designer. Students from international art schools can take part in this and win a grant to set up their own label.

Arnault’s private jet was also followed on Twitter

Arnault is a friend of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy and was the best man at his marriage to Cecilia Sarkozy in 1996. After the 2019 fire at Notre Dame in Paris, Arnault donated €200 million to repair the severely damaged cathedral.

However, Arnault is not only popular in France. Banners with the face of Bernard Arnault were also seen at workers’ protests in September and October this year. On the posters, demonstrators described him as a “climate criminal” and “robber”.

Arnault only sold his private jet in October because he was annoyed that its flight movements were shared on Twitter. This is similar to the case with Elon Musk’s jet. In 2012, Arnault also caused an uproar in France when he applied for Belgian citizenship to avoid high French taxes. After public criticism, he withdrew his application.