Bernard Arnault, the billionaire chairman and CEO of global luxury goods company LVMH, which includes brands like Louis Vuitton, is now the richest man in the world, overtaking Elon Musk.
According to Forbes magazine, Arnault and his family’s net worth soared to $207.8 billion after a $23.6 billion increase on Friday. On the other hand, the net worth of Tesla’s CEO stood at $204.5 billion, Forbes real-time billionaires list noted.
The market cap of LVMH reached $388.8 billion on Friday, compared to Tesla’s $586.14 billion market cap.
Recently, LVMH posted a 10% rise in fourth-quarter sales, driven by resilient demand – including from Chinese buyers – for its high-end fashion. Sales at the world’s biggest luxury group, which owns labels, including Louis Vuitton, Dior, and Tiffany, came to nearly 24 billion euros ($26 billion) in the final three months of the year.
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Sales at LVMH’s fashion and leather goods division, which includes its largest labels, Vuitton and Dior, climbed 9% during the quarter, just below expectations for 10% growth.
LVMH also posted sales growth in perfumes, cosmetics, watches, and jewelry, with wines and spirits being the only unit to shrink, down 4% for the full year.
LVMH said its champagne operations, led by Moet Hennessy, grew but that cognac was hurt by a return to post-Covid normalcy in China and the United States.
In the annual general meeting, Arnault, 74, announced that his sons Alexandre, 31, and Frederic, 29, will be put forward to shareholders to join the board.
Tesla shares tumble
Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s Tesla shares tumbled over 12% on Thursday after CEO Elon Musk warned sales growth would slow this year. Tesla’s stock suffered its sharpest intraday percentage loss in more than a year, with $80 billion in market value wiped out on Thursday. That pushed its market capitalization loss for the month to about $210 billion.
