Bernard Arnault and family, owners of the Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (LVMH) — world’s leading fashion luxury goods company, have become the world’s richest with a net worth of $186.2 billion, beating Jeff Bezos — owner of the biggest online retail platform Amazon, according to Forbes.
Arnault spent $538 million dollars in recent months acquiring shares of his own French label brand controlled by him and his family. He had overtaken the world’s second richest person Elon Musk — SpaceX and Tesla owner, after reporting a first quarter revenue of €14 billion in 2021, which surged by 32% as compared to first quarter of 2020.
Also, in January 2021, LVMH made the largest luxury fashion business deal by acquiring America’s largest jewellery maker Tiffany & Co. for $15.8 million.
The fashion conglomerate recorded a revenue of €44.7 billion in 2020, downfall in sales growth by 17%. The fashion group also witnessed a decline in organic revenue by 16% in 2020, as compared to 2019 due to the serious health crisis which resulted in closure of the group’s stores and manufacturing sites in most countries over a period of several months.
The world’s ultimate taste-maker oversees an empire of 70 brands including Louis Vuitton, Sephora, Tiffany & Co, Stella McCartney, Gucci, Christian Dior, Givenchy which are independently managed and operated under the LVMH umbrella.
Source: Insider
Cover Picture: Bernard Arnault. Photo credit: Quartz
