In this article, we will discuss the topics like, “What is Bernard Arnault Net Worth?” Everything about Bernard Arnault, and also How much money has he amassed in the year 2022? Therefore, if this is something that piques your curiosity, stick with us.
What Is Bernard Arnault Net Worth?
Bernard Arnault is a French billionaire who made his money as the chairman and CEO of LVMH, the biggest luxury goods company in the world. The current estimate of Bernard Arnault’s wealth is $188.6 billion. Bernard’s net worth has made him one of the richest people in the world for most of his adult life. He is in the same group as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Bill Gates. Elon Musk was the richest person in the world until December 13, 2022, when Bernard Arnault passed him.
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Details About Wealth
As the CEO of LVMH, Bernard Arnault made a lot of money. In the 1980s, when Christian Dior was about to go bankrupt, Arnault bought him. He then used the profits and higher value of Dior to put together a group of luxury brands, including Louis Vuitton, Moet, Hennessy (hence “LVMH”), Marc Jacobs, Givenchy, Tag Heuer, Bulgari, and Tiffany & Co. LVMH is now home to about 60 brands and makes $70 billion each year. As of this writing, LVMH is worth $384 billion on the stock market.
97% of Dior is still owned directly by Bernard and the rest of the Arnault family, and Dior owns 41% of LVMH. The family also has direct ownership of another 7% of LVMH. They have the right to vote more than 50% of the time.
Outside of LVMH, Bernard owns two wineries in France, Princess Yachts, 5% of Carrefour, which is France’s largest supermarket chain, and a collection of art worth billions of dollars that includes works by Picasso and Warhol.
In June of 2019, Bernard Arnault became the first person whose wealth was worth more than $100 billion. At that time, he was the third richest person in the world. In July 2019, his net worth was over $108 billion, making him the second-richest person on the planet, about $400 million ahead of Bill Gates. In December 2022, his $171 billion net worth passed Elon Musk’s $168 billion net worth, making him the richest person on Earth.
Early Years Of His Life
On March 5, 1949, Bernard Jean Étienne Arnault was born in Roubaix, France. Jean Léon Arnault, his father, made things and went to École Centrale Paris. Marie-Josèphe Savinel was his mother. Her father, Étienne Savinel, ran the civil engineering company Ferret-Savinel. In 1950, Savinel gave his son-in-law Jean Léon Arnault (Bernard’s father) the job of running Ferret-Savinel. He later gave him ownership of the company as well. In 1971, Bernard got his degree from the École Polytechnique, which is the best engineering school in France.
Family Enterprise
After Arnault graduated from college in 1971, he went to work at Ferret-Savinel, which was his father’s business (which was previously owned by his maternal grandfather). In 1978, he was named president of the company, a job he held until 1984. During his time at Ferret-Savinel, he helped move the company away from construction and toward real estate, which turned out to be a good business decision.
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Luxury Goods
With the help of Antoine Bernheim, Bernard bought the high-end goods company Financiere Agache in 1984. He became CEO of Financiere Agache and then bought the bankrupt textile company Boussac Saint-Freres. Boussac owned a lot of brands and stores, like the luxury brand Christian Dior and the department store Le Bon Marche. Arnault sold all of Boussac’s assets, except for Dior and Le Bon Marche.
Even now, Bernard and his family still own 97% of Dior.
LVMH
With the higher value and profits of Dior, Bernard went on a shopping spree for high-end brands. In 1987, Bernard made LVMH, an umbrella company that would own the combined Louis Vuitton and MotHennessyy fashion houses. In July 1988, he gave $1.5 billion to Guinness and together they set up a holding company to buy 24% of LVMH’s shares. There were rumours that the Louis Vuitton group was going to try to buy up LVMH stock to make a “blocking minority.” Arnault spent another $600 million to buy 13.5% of LVMH shares to stop the rumours from coming true. This made him the person with the most shares in LVMH. He didn’t stop there, though. In January 1989, he spent another $500 million to buy more shares. By then, he owned 43.5% of LVMH’s shares and had the right to vote on 35% of its shares. Using his power, he stopped the LVMH group from being broken up. Since then, he has led the conglomerate through a change that has made it one of the largest and most successful luxury groups in the world.
Under Arnault, LVMH underwent massive growth. In eleven years, sales and profits went up by a factor of 5, and the market value of the company went up by a factor of 15. Even though the conglomerate owns a lot of brands (75 as of June 2020), Arnault has continued to push for a strategy that decentralises the brands. This helps them be seen as independent brands and firms with their own histories and stories. LVMH also owns brands like Céline, which it bought in 1988, Berluti, Kenzo, Guerlain, Loewe, Marc Jacobs, Sephora, Thomas Pink, Emilio Pucci, and Fendi, all of which were bought between 1993 and 2000. (in 2001).
Additional Investments
Arnault has his hands in a lot of different things besides LVMH. Between 1998 and 2001, he put money into a number of web companies through his holding company, Europatweb. These companies included Boo.com, Libertysurg, and Zebank. In 1999, he put money into Netflix through his company, Groupe Arnault. In 2007, it was said that Arnault and the California real estate company Colony Capital owned 10.69% of Carrefour. Carrefour is the biggest grocery store chain in France and the second largest in the world. He has also gone into the business of making yachts. He bought Princess Yachts for €253 million in 2008. Then, for almost the same amount of money, he bought Royal van Lent.
Artwork Collection
Picasso, Yves Klein, Henry Moore, and Andy Warhol are just some of the artists whose works are in Arnault’s collection. He also helped make LVMH one of the most important art supporters in France. The LVMH Young Fashion Designer is an international competition for students in schools of fine arts. Every year, the winner receives a grant to help them start their own label and a year of mentorship.
Between 1999 and 2003, he ran an art auction house called Phillips de Pury & Company and bought out the first French auctioneer, Tajan. The Louis Vuitton Foundation building project was started by Arnault in 2006. The architect Frank Gehry made the building, which is all about making and showing new art. On October 20, 2014, the Foundation’s grand opening was held at the Jardin d’Acclimatation in Paris.
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