Bernard Arnault beats Jeff Bezos to become the richest man in the world

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.

As per Business Insider, 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.