According to Forbes, Bernard Arnault, the Chairman and CEO of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, has surpassed Tesla founder Elon Musk as the world’s richest person. The French billionaire and his family have a net worth of $207.6 billion, while Musk comes in second with $204.7 billion.

The two have been competing for the position since 2022. Arnault became the world’s wealthiest person in late 2022, surpassing Elon Musk as tech stocks struggled due to high inflation.

How did Arnault overpower Musk?

According to Forbes, Arnault and his family’s net worth increased by $23.6 billion on Friday, surpassing Musk’s $204.5 billion. Musk lost first place after losing $18B in net worth due to Tesla’s 13% stock drop on Thursday.

On Thursday, luxury goods group LVMH reported a 10% increase in fourth-quarter sales, up from the previous quarter, thanks to resilient demand for its high-end fashion, including from Chinese buyers, during the crucial end-of-year period.

Sales at the world’s largest luxury group, which owns labels such as Louis Vuitton, Dior, and Tiffany, totaled nearly 24 billion euros ($26 billion) in the last three months of the year.

“The highest-end products are those with the highest global demand,” LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault told analysts, citing haute couture products from labels such as Christian Dior and predicting that this trend would continue.

Arnault stated that he was pleased with LVMH’s growth rate and was “very confident” about 2024.

So, who exactly is Bernard Arnault?

Arnault was born on March 5, 1949, to an industrial family in Roubaix, France, and attended both the Roubaix lycée and the Faidherbe lycée in Lille.

In 1989, the business tycoon became the majority shareholder of LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton, helping to create the world’s leading luxury product group.

Since then, Arnault has served as the company’s chairman and CEO. He has received the titles Grand Officier de la Légion d’Honneur and Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres in recognition of his contributions to the country.

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