KEY POINTS
- French billionaire Bernard Arnault is currently the world's richest man.
- He has patiently built up his luxury goods empire LMVH and tries to avoid the limelight.
- His five children all have top jobs at LVMH but he shows little sign of slowing down.
When Elon Musk was bumped off his crown as the world's richest person after the fall of Tesla's shares last year, the new king of wealth was someone many had never heard of.
French billionaire Bernard Arnault's personal net worth is currently $US223.2 billion ($A322.3 billion), making him the richest man in the world today, according to Forbes.
So who exactly is Mr Arnault, why is he so rich and who stands to inherit his wealth?
And who else tops the billionaires' list?
A patient man who shuns the limelight
Mr Arnault, 73, is chairman and CEO of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, commonly known as LVMH, which he has gradually built into a global luxury empire.
LVMH now has 75 brands, including Louis Vuitton, Kenzo, Sephora and Tiffany.
"An essential quality in our family is patience," Mr Arnault acknowledged in a 2012 TV profile of him.
In 2022, LVMH's annual sales had topped a record 79.2 billion euros ($A123.8 billion), driven by strong demand in the US and Europe.
"We can continue to progress — but let's be patient," he told France's Radio Classique last year. "No rush."
The businessman has also invested in the French media, a move he described during a Senate hearing in January 2022 as "more on the patronage side".
French billionaire Berard Arnault has overcome Elon Musk to become the world's richest man. Source: SBS News
When the use of private jets by celebrities was being tracked on social media earlier this year, he sold the LVMH jet.
"The upshot now is that no one else can know where I'm going because I lease planes," he said on Radio Classique.
Where did Bernard Arnault spring from?
Mr Arnault was born in the northern French city of Roubaix in 1949 and joined his father's public works building company at the age of 22.
He had just left the elite Ecole Polytechnique and convinced his father to transform the construction business into real estate development instead.
In 1981, after socialist Francois Mitterrand was elected president, Mr Arnault left France for the United States. On his return three years later, he bought the debt-ridden textiles company Boussac, prevailing against several serious competitors with a promise to save jobs.
However, he embarked on a drastic reorganisation of the firm, only retaining some of its businesses, including the fashion house Christian Dior. By then, he was 35 years old.
"My father was surprised when I went to see him saying: 'We're going to redirect the family group and try to invest in something more promising, Christian Dior'," the businessman recalled recently on Radio Classique.
It would be the foundation stone for his luxury empire.
LVMH was born out of the merger in 1987 of trunk-maker Louis Vuitton and the wines and spirits group Moet Hennessy.
A rivalry between the families owning the two companies aided Mr Arnault's ascendancy and he took control of the group in 1989 after no fewer than 17 legal proceedings.
"He's a tough negotiator but unmatched, a visionary who knows how to surround himself with good people and who in the end always gets his way one way or another," Arnaud Cadart, portfolio manager at financial services firm Flornoy, told AFP.
Failures and controversies
Mr Arnault's rise, however, has not been without some failures.
He lost Italian fashion and leather goods house Gucci to his French rival Francois Pinault, head of the PPR group, in 1999.
He also tried in vain to take over Hermes, known for its silk scarves and leather handbags, by secretly building up a stake in the firm.
He's also no stranger to controversy.
Last year, LVMH paid a fine of 10 million euros ($A15.6 million) to settle a case as part of a probe into spying.
Mr Arnault also abandoned his bid to secure Belgian nationality in 2013 issuing a mea culpa after it whipped up a storm of controversy that rumbled on for months amid public debate over the tax arrangements of the wealthy.
Like many billionaires, the luxury mogul also has access to top leaders in Japan, China, the Middle East and the US.
In 2011, he was received at the White House by former President Barack Obama; Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed him to Moscow five years later; former French president Francois Hollande cut the ribbon on his Louis Vuitton Foundation, while former US President Donald Trump did the same for a Vuitton workshop in Texas.
And when the historic Samaritaine department store, owned by LVMH, reopened last year, French President Emmanuel Macron was a guest at the inauguration.
Who will take over?
Mr Arnault has five children, all of whom have top jobs at LVMH, but shows little sign of slowing down — or handing over the reins just yet.
At its last general meeting, the age limit for his role as LVMH chief executive was extended to 80 years old, ensuring the luxury conglomerate stays in family hands.
Married to a pianist and art lover, Mr Arnault also created the Louis Vuitton Foundation, one of Paris' most prestigious exhibition locations for contemporary art.
Head of French multinational corporation LVMH Bernard Arnault (C) and his wife Helene (2R), surrounded by their children (from L) Frederic, Delphine, Antoine and Alexandre. Source: Getty / CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT/AFP via Getty Images
Who else tops the rich list?
Mr Musk, who has co-founded six companies including Tesla, space transportation and aerospace manufacturer SpaceX and tunnelling startup Boring Company, still ranks as the second richest man in the world with a net worth of $US184.2 billion ($A266 billion).
He is followed by Amazon founder and chairman Jeff Bezos, worth $US126.5 billion ($A182.7 billion).
Indian businessman Gautam Adani was third on the list until last week with a fortune of $US130 billion ($A187.8 billion), but his empire abruptly lost $US100 billion ($A144 billion) in value following allegations of accounting fraud.
Forbes now lists Mr Adani as the 17th richest man in the world, with a fortune of $US 61.7 billion ($A89.1 billion).
Interestingly, the richest woman in the world is also French and the head of a luxury powerhouse. Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, the granddaughter of the founder of L'Oreal, has amassed a fortune of $US84.billion ($A121.3 billion).
Australia's richest person Gina Rinehart is currently listed 44th on Forbes' rich list, with a fortune of $US30.7 b ($A44.3b).
In total, there were 2,668 billionaires on the Forbes' 2022 ranking of the world's richest people — 87 fewer than in 2021.
The most dramatic drops were in Russia, where there were 34 fewer billionaires than in 2021 following President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, and in China, where a government crackdown on tech companies led to 87 fewer Chinese billionaires on the 2022 list.
Nevertheless, more than 1,000 billionaires ended 2022 richer than they were a year ago, Forbes added.
- With AFP
