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The Street

Jeffrey Quiggle

World's Richest Person Owns More Companies Than You Might Think

Bernard Arnault Christian Dior (Person) Elon Musk LVMH Marc Jacobs (Person) Twitter Inc. Fendi Luxury United States Bulgari

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and Twitter, lost his title as richest person in the world on Dec. 13, 2022, largely due to a steep decline in the electric vehicle company's stock during the year.

Stocks were down across the board last year, and the same can be said for the net worth of the world's richest billionaires.

Claiming the title of the world's richest person from Musk was Bernard Arnault, the French businessman who serves as CEO of luxury goods company LVMH (LVMUY) .

In 2022, Wall Street had its worst year since 2008. But LVMH shares fell only 1.5% for the year. Tesla (TSLA) stock, meanwhile, tumbled 53.3%.

Musk's fortune dropped by about $100 billion during the year, compared to a decline in wealth for Arnault of a comparatively small $7 billion or so.

As of Jan. 6, Arnault, who many call the lord of luxury, sits atop the Bloomberg Billionaires Index at at a net worth of $175 billion. Musk is number two with $126 billion.

Many are familiar -- if not overexposed -- to Musk and his 2022 drama-filled purchase of Twitter. Arnault, on the other hand, has not been the subject of so much attention, at least in the U.S. media.

Journalist Shares Arnault Anecdotes on Twitter

So how is it that Arnault amassed his fortune and collection of companies? It was certainly not through cautious practices such as fear of growing too fast or the current frugal trend of quiet hiring.

Polina Pompliano, founder of The Profile, wrote a story on the subject and shared some background in posts on Twitter.

"As the billionaire CEO of @LVMH, Arnault sells items no one actually needs," she wrote as @polina_mariova. "But with a roster of more than 70 brands including Fendi, Bulgari, Dom Pérignon, and Givenchy, he's built the world’s largest and most successful purveyor of luxury goods."

Pompliano, through Twitter, tells the story of a 1971 taxi ride a 22-year old Arnault took, after having graduated from a French engineering school, in New York City.

"One day that same year, he was visiting NYC when he asked the cab driver if he knew the name of France's then-president, Georges Pompidou," she tweeted. "The driver replied, 'No, but I know Christian Dior.'"

The question of how a fashion designer could be more well-known abroad than the president of his country, Arnault had thought, "planted the seed of what would one day become LFMH."

Arnault soon became head of the family construction business, but with bigger ambitions than that, he moved to the U.S. in hopes of building a global business. He soon had the opportunity to compete for the acquisition of Christian Dior.

"After a contentious acquisition process, Arnault bought Dior's near-bankrupt holding company and nursed it back to health by cutting costs and streamlining operations," Pampliano tweeted. "The purchase would change Arnault's reputation from family businessman to the emperor of luxury brands."

In the spring of 1987, Pompliano reported, Arnault began acquiring shares of LVMH and soon had enough stock to become LVMH's largest shareholder.

He became known as "the Wolf in Cashmere."

In another tweet, Pampliano added a nifty graphic showing the companies owned and operated by LVMH.

"Once he took over LVMH, Arnault went on an aggressive global buying spree, snapping up high-quality brands like Givenchy, Fendi, Bulgari, and Marc Jacobs," the tweet said.

The Companies That Make Up LVMH

Another way to look at all the companies owned by LVMH is to sort them by these categories: wines and spirits, perfumes and cosmetics, fashion and leather goods, watches and jewelry, selective retailing

Wines and Spirits