Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk not richest anymore
22:48
French Bernard Arnault, the owner of the Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy holding company, became the richest man in the world in the ranking of Forbes magazine.
The Frenchman has overtaken Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, and Elon Musk, president of Tesla. Arnault's fortune was $186.3 billion, the Rzeczpospolita daily wrote. It was $300 million more than Bezos' fortune.
Arnault's fortune has increased during the pandemic by as much as $110 billion since March 2020. LVMH share prices rose during this time as demand for luxury goods returned.
As Rzeczpospolita wrote, Arnault made his debut in the top ten of the richest businessmen in 2005, with a net worth of $13 billion. In 2019, he was already in third place with $76 billion.
The LVMH Group consists of over 70 brands, mainly in the fashion, alcohol, and perfume industries. It supplies clothes from companies such as Christian Dior, Donna Karan, Fendi, Givenchy, Kenzo, or Marc Jacobs, watches and jewelry from Bulgari, De Beers Diamond Jewelers or Hublot, and alcohols Belvedere, Dom Pérignon, Glenmorangie, Hennessy, and Veuve Clicquot.
In 2012, Bernard Arnault began applying for Belgian citizenship, which would have allowed him to avoid 70 percent of the tax introduced for the richest citizens in France. Belgian officials objected because the French did not meet the conditions – he did not prove, for example, that he had spent the required three years in Belgium. Influenced by criticism, Arnault withdrew his citizenship application and stated that he intended to pay taxes in France.
