Bernard Arnault has overtaken Bill Gates as the world’s second-richest person as reported by Bloomberg on Tuesday.
Arnault made his fortune running LVMH, a French luxury conglomerate. It was previously reported that the luxury-goods sector has boomed in 2019, thanks to increased demand in China. According to Bloomberg, Arnault has a net worth of about $103 billion.Bill Gates has been ousted from his long-held spot as the world’s second-richest person.
Bernard Arnault, the CEO of LVMH, whose shares surged on Tuesday, is now more than $200 million richer than Gate. It’s the first time in the index’s seven-year history that Gates has ranked below No. 2, Bloomberg reported.Arnault now has a net worth of $108 billion, compared with Gates’, $107 billion according to Bloomberg.
Forbes was more conservative in its estimate of the French billionaire’s fortune, ranking him behind both Gates and Warren Buffett with a net worth of $103 billion.According to Bloomberg, Arnault’s fortune stems from his 97.4% stake in Christian Dior, which also owns 41% of LVMH, the parent company of Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, Fendi, and Celine.Gates, who made his fortune cofounding Microsoft, still owns about 1.3% of the software maker, Bloomberg reported. It was also previously reported that Arnault’s net worth has had a meteoric rise as the luxury-goods sector booms amid increased demand in China.
Other French billionaires, including Kering’s Francois-Henri Pinault and L’Oreal’s Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, have benefited as well, but none as much as Arnault.In March, Arnault overtook Buffett as the world’s third-richest person. And in June, Arnault became the third-ever centibillionaire, with a personal fortune over $100 billion
