Celebrity Spotlight For Dec 31st Is Bernard Arnault

It’s almost the end of year guys, so lets’ wrap-up 2022 with the newest richest man in the world; Bernard Arnault.

Arnault has previously held the title of the world’s richest man. In 2019, 2020, and again in 2021, he held the role for a brief period. If Elon Musk can quickly turn around Twitter, Arnault might not hold the position for very long. However, the Frenchman’s feats are legendary.

He owns brands like Fendi, Dior, Givenchy, Bulgari and, of course, Louis Vuitton.

Arnault was born in a region of northern France near the border with Belgium. He started working for his father’s construction company after finishing engineering school. He concentrated on real estate development there and quickly became president.

He took over a failed company in 1984 that comprised Christian Dior and the Le Bon Marche department store. His entry into the high-end market was this. By combining Louis Vuitton and Moet Hennessy in 1987, LVMH was created. In a hostile takeover, he quickly forced out the opposition and was named chairman of the executive management board in 1989, a position he has held ever since.

He proceeded on a decades-long, multibillion-euro buying binge after becoming the sole leader, snatching up one company after another. He brought in contemporary management and hired new designers to spice things up because many of the brands had been mismanaged and had become out-of-date.

Arnault co-founded LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, also known as LVMH, and serves as its chairman, CEO, and co-founder. The largest shareholder and owner of the majority of the voting shares in the publicly traded corporation is his holding company.

Arnault is not very famous outside of France compared to other people on the list of the world’s richest people. When Arnault paid roughly $16 billion to acquire the renowned jeweler Tiffany & Co. in 2019, he attracted attention in the United States. He gained media attention in Germany in early 2021 when he acquired a majority stake in Birkenstock, albeit it is not apparent how the sandal manufacturer can be elevated to the status of a luxury brand.

LVMH is a family business today. The five children of Arnault all collaborate with him in various ways. Arnault is a very reserved person who is always perfectly dressed and has a full head of gray hair. Colleagues seldom ever bring him up. We do know that he plays tennis frequently, loves music, and enjoys art collecting. He was the owner of the Phillips de Pury auction house for a while.

According to analysts at Forbes, Arnault’s wealth was estimated at $180.2 billion (€169.8 billion) as of December 20, which is approximately $17 billion higher than Musk’s.