Thanks to his company’s purchase of Tiffany for $16.2 billion earlier this week, Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton SE (LVMH) chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault is hot on the heels of Jeff Bezos for the title of the world’s richest person.
The purchase of Tiffany caused Arnault’s personal net worth to jump nearly 4 percent, and he is now worth nearly $108 billion, according to real-time wealth rankings tracked by Forbes. Arnault and his family own more than 47 percent of the French luxury goods retailer.
With that jump, Arnault moved ahead of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates — who has a net worth of $107 billion — and is nipping on the heels of Amazon CEO Bezos, who is worth just north of $110 billion.
Trailing Bezos, Arnault and Gates on the list are Warren Buffett ($86 billion) and Mark Zuckerberg ($75 billion). Oracle’s Larry Ellison and Inditex co-founder Amancio Ortega are next with each being worth just under $70 billion.
Thanks to the purchase of Tiffany, LVMH, which already owns the Bulgari jewel and watch label, Christian Dior fashions, Hublot watches and Dom Perignon Champagne, now has a bigger stake in the jewelry sector.
“We know Mr. Arnault likes to be always No. 1,” RBC analyst Rogerio Fujimori said in a note to Bloomberg prior to the purchase. “Tiffany would become a better company and stronger competitor under the ownership of LVMH.”
Subscribe here for our free daily newsletter.
Thanks for reading InsideHook. Sign up for our daily newsletter and be in the know.
