Bernard Arnault and Jeff Bezos Lead, Elon Musk Drops to Third Spot in Latest Ranking.
French businessman Bernard Jean Etienne Arnault has surpassed Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to become the world’s richest person, with an astonishing net worth of $197 billion, according to data from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Arnault, the founder and chairman of LVMH, the world’s largest luxury goods empire which includes brands like Louis Vuitton, achieved this feat as his net worth surged by $1.93 billion in a single day.
Meanwhile, Bezos, who had held the top spot since Tuesday, saw a decrease in his net worth by about $755 million, bringing his current net worth to $196 billion, landing him in the second position.
Bernard Arnault is the chairman of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, overseeing a conglomerate that encompasses 75 fashion and cosmetics brands and generated approximately $83.4 billion in revenue in 2022. Arnault holds control over approximately half of the empire. He is married to pianist Helene Mercier and has five children, all of whom work at LVMH. Notably, LVMH acquired American jeweler Tiffany & Co in 2021 for a record-breaking $15.8 billion, marking one of the largest luxury brand acquisitions in history.
As of the latest rankings, the five richest people in the world are:
- Bernard Arnault, with a net worth of $197 billion.
- Jeff Bezos, with a net worth of $196 billion.
- Elon Musk, with a net worth that has fluctuated but was previously reigning as the world’s richest for over nine consecutive months until March 5, when Tesla shares experienced a decline in value.
- Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta (formerly Facebook), with a net worth of $178 billion.
- Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, with a net worth of $148 billion.