News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that in the latest ranking by Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, Arnault is in second place with Jeff Bezos still retaining first place.
Arnault and his family are the majority owners of Christian Dior and LVMH, parent of such brands as Louis Vuitton, Celine, Fendi, Moët, Hennessy, Dom Pérignon, and others.
As LVMH’s share price has soared in 2019, so has Arnault’s worth. It now stands at about $107.6 billion, more than $200 million ahead of Gates, Bloomberg estimates.
The French entrepreneur entered the luxury industry in 1984, when he bought Boussac, a textile empire in the midst of bankruptcy that owned Dior.
Arnault set about reviving it, turning it into a vertically integrated company that did its own production, distribution, and marketing.
He went on to buy up other brands, such as Céline, and in 1988 engineered the deal that made him the majority shareholder of LVMH.
Forbes currently ranks Dior as the world’s largest fashion brand based on sales, profits, assets, and market value.
Meanwhile, LVMH on the whole keeps attracting customers around the world, with China being the latest highly profitable frontier.
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