Bernard Arnault becomes world's second richest man after Tesla dips: Here's all about him

SpaceX Chief Elon Musk who has sent the prices of Bitcoin plummeting with his tweets is facing a similar fortune himself. On May 18, his overall wealth declined by a whopping $3.16 billion sending his fortune to the US $160/6, as per Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index. As his net worth dipped, his rank as the world’s second-most richest man was overtaken by non-other than Luxury goods mogul- Bernard Arnault.

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Who is Bernard Arnault?

The 72-year-old Bernard Arnault is chairman and chief executive of LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton, which is the world’s largest luxury products company. At present, he oversees more than 70 leading brands including Sephora, Christian Dior amongst others. He owns a 96.5 per cent stake in Christian Dior, which controls 41 per cent of LVMH.

Arnault was born on March 5, 1949, in Roubaix, the third-largest city in France. He studied engineering at the Ecole Polytechnique, a prestigious school in before joining his father’s construction business. While his father made little in the construction business, his first brush with opulence came after he acquired Christian Dior in 1985. In 1989, Arnault became the majority shareholder of LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton, thereby creating the world’s leading luxury products group.

Earlier this year, in what marked the biggest luxury brand acquisition ever, LVMH acquired American jeweller Tiffany & Co for $15.8 billion. In a similar move, it used $3.2 billion to take over the luxury hospitality group Belmond in 2019. On Monday, Arnault' total fortune rose by $285 million taking his overall net worth to $161.2 billion. Arnault has added $46.8 billion to his net worth so far in 2021. It is imperative to note that Amazon's Jeff Bezos continues to be on the top position in Bloomberg Billionaires Index, with a net worth of $190 billion.

Image:AP