He Earned 6.9$ billion TODAY! Who is Europe’s Richest Man?
You want it? He owns it!
Today is not Elon Musk’s day, he lost $7.9 billion in 24 hours. While the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX is on an unimaginable downfall, Bernard Arnault can sit and relax, as his net worth increased by $6.9 billion. To put the number in perspective, if you had the amount Arnault made today, you could spend more than 78 000$ an hour, every single day for the next 10 years. The richest of the rich make and lose more money, in just a day, than most people see through their lifetime. How do they do it?
You want it? He owns it!
You want it? He owns it!
Bernard Jean Étienne Arnault is the Chairman And CEO of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton. Arnault certainly likes to make it stay in the family, four out of his 5 children work for LVMH. This company controls roughly 60 subsidiaries. Each of them manages a small number of high end, prestigious brands we all know and lust for.
Does he make smart investments or does he simply come from money?
Bernard graduated from the most prestigious French university École Polytechnique . He started his carrier at his father's construction company Ferret-Savinelin in 1971.
However, he was not satisfied with dimple success, he wanted more. Bernard persuaded his father to change the focus of the company from industrial construction division to real estate. He did have a good kick-off in life, but, he never stopped. Arnault did not hesitate, he knew when to sell and say goodbye, and when to buy a business. He always seemed able to find the next "sweet spot" to go for.
From high-end gemstone jewellery, luxury watches, perfumes and leather goods fashion, fragrances and accessories, to yachts, cruises, knives, hotels and so much more.
He bought Christian Dior in 1985. And no, we're not talking about perfume, he bought the company! Why did he do that? Because his mother, Marie-Joseph Savinel, and the daughter of Étienne Savinel, had a "fascination for Dior".
Christian Dior, Fendi, Givenchy, Marc Jacobs, Stella McCartney, Loewe, Loro Piana, Kenzo, Celine, Sephora,Fenty, Belmond , Hennessy… Princess Yachts, TAG Heuer and Bulgari, among many other companies
The list of the luxury brands seems endless, and it goes on, and on...and on! Bernard probably bought and sold more companies than the pairs of shoes or bras owned by the "average Jane", and in her best years. Maybe even in a lifetime.
It is completely pointless to list even a fragment of his purchases and investments. Simply, there are too many.
For example, in 2019, his company paid "just" $3.2 billion for Belmond. Bernard acquired a luxury hospitality group that owns or manages 46 hotels, trains, and river cruises. All that for a sum more than twice as small, then the one he gained today.
One thing is certain, many hearts skip a beat, just when a bright orange paper bag with blue ribbon handles happens to appear in their view. Even if the bag is empty. Every single product he owns through his company turns heads wherever they show up. Some of them can even literally make your head spin, among them, even Dom Pérignon and Guinness.
Just to mention, Hennessy sells around 50 million bottles of cognac each year, making it the world's largest cognac producer, accounting for more than 40% of global cognac production.
But, he is not all about Princess Yachts, cognac and parfumes
Bernard also has a ruthless side. After purchasing Boussac, which owned Dior at that time, Arnault fired 9,000 employees in two years. After that, he started to know by his nickname "The Terminator." Then Arnault sold almost all of the assets of the company, keeping just the Christian Dior name and the department store Le Bon Marché. From there, he started building the empire he has today. The richest man in Europe is known for "creeping takeovers" and sneaky share purchases. Nonetheless, his wealth continued to grow through his constant effort to own and make money from the world's desire for luxury.
