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Still richest person in the world: Bernard Arnault has a net worth of nearly $200 billion. A loss of around 11,000,000,000 dollars can be overcome within a few hours

Photo: Vincent Isore / IP3press / IMAGO

Bernard Arnault (74), the richest person in the world, lost 11.2 billion dollars (about 10.4 billion euros) of his fortune in one day. The reason for this is the stock crash of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, where Arnault is CEO and a major shareholder. A feared market slump in the luxury sector due to a slowdown in consumer spending in the US caused LVMH shares to fall temporarily by 8 percent to 900 dollars (834 euros) on Tuesday.

LVMH sells handbags from Louis Vuitton, champagne from Moët & Chandon and dresses from Christian Dior, among others. The past year has been excellent for the luxury goods group. Revenues and profits rose by more than a quarter. And this year, too, the stock has had a long rally with an increase of 23 percent. The high demand boosted the revenue of the first quarter to 21 billion euros.

LVMH's biggest sales driver was its fashion and leather goods business, which also includes the Dior brand, which was recently managed by subsidiary Delphine Arnault. And the MSCI Europe Textiles Apparel & Luxury Goods Index also rose by 27 percent this year – overall, the luxury sector was already very crisis-proof during the corona pandemic.

Assets under $200 billion

But on Tuesday the shock: LVMH gave up some of its profits. LVMH shares fell 5 percent in Paris, the most in more than a year and amid a broader decline that sent the European luxury sector about $30 billion dwindling.

Attendees at a luxury conference in Paris organized by Morgan Stanley pointed to a "relatively subdued" performance in the U.S., says analyst Edouard Aubin. Deutsche Bank AG analysts Matt Garland and Adam Cochrane said in a note that they expect investors to be more selective in European luxury stocks as slowing growth in the U.S. is a cause for concern.

Arnault remains the richest man in the world

Arnault had seen his fortune skyrocket for most of 2023 as the share prices of European luxury companies soared. In April, the 74-year-old was worth more than$200 billion for the first time. Despite the stock crash, the French billionaire still has a net worth of $191.6 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. This year alone, he had gained $29.5 billion.

Arnault thus remains the richest man in the world – but reduces his wealth gap to second-placed Elon Musk (51) to 11.4 billion dollars.

mje/Bloomberg