Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

Bernard Arnault, Luxury Emperor Who Dethroned Elon Musk As World's Richest Person

Bernard Arnault, Luxury Emperor Who Dethroned Elon Musk As World's Richest Person

With $184 billion on Thursday, Bernard Arnault and his family moved to the top of Forbes' billionaire list, knocking the Tesla, SpaceX and Twitter boss off the top spot.
Bernard Arnault -- who with his family now tops the wealth of Elon Musk -- gradually built LVMH into a global luxury empire by buying up iconic brands, sealing his reputation as a formidable and insatiable businessman.

With $184 billion on Thursday, the 73-year-old Frenchman and his family moved to the top of Forbes' billionaire list, knocking the Tesla, SpaceX and Twitter boss off the top spot.

LVMH -- the world's leading luxury group -- boasts more than 75 brands, acquired over time.

They include some of the most recognisable names in fashion and prestige goods, from Louis Vuitton and Kenzo to Moet Hennessy and Tiffany.

"An essential quality in our family is patience," Arnault acknowledged in a 2012 TV profile of him.

A decade later -- by which time LVMH's annual sales had more than doubled to over 64 billion euros ($68 billion) -- he told France's Radio Classique: "We can continue to progress -- but let's be patient. 

"No rush," he said.

The businessman has also invested in the French media, a move he described during a Senate hearing in January 2022 as "more on the patronage side".

During a hearing in the French Senate earlier this year Arnault said he had intervened to stop LVMH advertising in the Liberation newspaper, after it irked him with a front-page article.

'Invest in something promising'

Arnault was born in the northern French city of Roubaix on March 5, 1949 and joined his father's public works building company at the age of 22.

He had just left the elite Ecole Polytechnique and convinced his father to transform the construction business into real-estate development instead.

In 1981, after socialist Francois Mitterrand was elected president, Arnault left France for the United States.

On his return three years later, he bought the debt-ridden textiles company Boussac, prevailing against several serious competitors with a promise to save jobs.

However, he embarked on a drastic reorganisation of the firm, only retaining some of its businesses, including the fashion house Christian Dior.

By then, Arnault was 35 years old.

"My father was surprised when I went to see him saying: 'We're going to redirect the family group and try to invest in something more promising, Christian Dior'," the businessman recalled recently on Radio Classique.

It would be the foundation stone for his luxury empire.

LVMH was born out of the merger in 1987 of trunk-maker Louis Vuitton and the wines and spirits group Moet Hennessy.

Rivalry between the families owning the two companies aided Arnault's ascendancy and he took control of the group in 1989 after no fewer than 17 legal proceedings.

"He's a tough negotiator but unmatched, a visionary who knows how to surround himself with good people and who in the end always gets his way one way or another," Arnaud Cadart, portfolio manager at financial services firm Flornoy, told AFP.

Arnault's rise, however, has not been without some failures.

Corporate criticisms

He lost Italian fashion and leather goods house Gucci to his French rival Francois Pinault, head of the PPR group, in 1999.

Arnault also tried in vain to take over Hermes, known for its silk scarves and leather handbags, by secretly building up a stake in the firm.

He rarely speaks publicly and does not like the limelight.

When the use of private jets by celebrities was being tracked on social media earlier this year, Arnault sold the LVMH jet.

"The upshot now is that no one else can know where I'm going because I lease planes," he said on Radio Classique.

"It's the French businessman's lot to embody -- sometimes in a totally unjustified way -- the criticisms of the day since the mindset has for a few years now been a bit anti-corporate," he lamented on France 2 in 2016.

That same year he was skewered in a satirical documentary entitled "Merci Patron!" (Thank you Boss!) by filmmaker and now politician Francois Ruffin, who often has Arnault in his crosshairs.

Obama, Putin, Trump, Macron...

Last year, LVMH paid a 10-million-euro fine to settle a case as part of a probe into spying.

Arnault abandoned his bid to secure Belgian nationality in 2013 issuing a mea culpa after it whipped up a storm of controversy which rumbled on for months amid public debate over the tax arrangements of the wealthy.

In 2011, he was received at the White House by president Barack Obama; Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed him to Moscow five years later; former French president Francois Hollande cut the ribbon on his Louis Vuitton Foundation, while Donald Trump did the same for a Vuitton workshop in Texas.

And when the historic Samaritaine department store, owned by LVMH, reopened last year, French President Emmanuel Macron was a guest at the inauguration.

In Japan, China and the Middle East, the luxury mogul has access to top leaders.

Arnault has five children, all of whom work for LVMH, but shows little sign of slowing down -- or handing over the reins just yet.

Every week he makes a point of touring all the group's Paris-based companies.

At its last general meeting, the age limit for his role as LVMH chief executive was extended to 80 years old, ensuring the luxury conglomerate stays in family hands.

Married to a pianist and art lover, Arnault also created the Louis Vuitton Foundation, one of Paris' most prestigious exhibition locations for contemporary art.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×