This French tastemaker came from a wealthy family and turned millions into hundreds of billions over nearly four decades. For the second year running, luxury goods magnate Bernard Arnault is the richest person in the world, ranking number one on Forbes’ World’s Billionaires list. He’s $22 billion richer than in 2023, thanks to yet another record year for his luxury goods conglomerate, LVMH, which owns an empire of 75 coveted brands including Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and Sephora. The group announced $16.5 billion in net profit on $94 billion revenues for 2023, sending its stock 5% higher over the past year.

The 75-year-old tycoon has an estimated $233 billion fortune on the annual Forbes list, giving him a $38 billion lead over his closest challenger, Elon Musk, who retained second place this year. That gap is wider than last year, when he outpaced Musk by $31 billion. While Musk’s high-profile tribulations in 2023 dented his wealth—most notably, when a Delaware judge voided his 2018 award of Tesla stock options in January—Arnault had a much better twelve months. In April 2023, LVMH became the first European company to reach a market capitalization of $500 billion.

This year marks Arnault’s 28th consecutive appearance on Forbes’ World’s Billionaires ranking. He first made the cut in 1997, with an estimated $3.1 billion fortune. That number, adjusted for inflation, would be about $6 billion today—meaning Arnault has added more than $200 billion to his net worth thanks to the growth of LVMH over the past two decades. He quickly climbed the ranks, vaulting into the top 20 richest by 2005 (worth $17 billion) and then becoming the world’s fourth richest in 2011 (worth $41 billion). His fortune took a gigantic leap in 2018, rising to $72 billion from the prior year’s $41.5 billion–though he still ranked No. 4. In 2023, he overtook Elon Musk to become the world’s richest person on Forbes’ yearly list for the first time.

Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/giacomot...

Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?s...

Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:

https://account.forbes.com/membership...

Stay Connected
Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter:   / forbes  
Forbes Video on Instagram:   / forbes  
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com

Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.