Bernard Arnault falls out of world’s top 10 richest people

Bernard Arnault, once the world’s richest person and the face of global luxury, has fallen out of the top 10 wealthiest people in the world as a sharp decline in his fortune reflects mounting pressure on the luxury goods industry.

The 77-year-old French billionaire’s net worth has dropped to $143 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, putting him below Warren Buffett, the 96-year-old chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and one of the world’s best-known philanthropists.

Arnault’s decline has been particularly steep this year. His fortune has fallen by $65 billion, the biggest drop among the 500 richest people tracked by the Bloomberg index.

The fall marks a striking reversal for the founder and chairman of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, whose luxury empire includes Louis Vuitton, Dior, Tiffany, Dom Perignon and Hennessy.

For years, Arnault stood at the summit of the global wealth rankings. Now, he has been pushed out of the top 10 as American technology billionaires dominate the list.

Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk remains far ahead of the rest with a fortune of $918.8 billion. He is followed by technology entrepreneurs including Larry Page, Jeff Bezos, Sergey Brin and Michael Dell.

It is the first time since the Bloomberg Billionaires Index was launched in 2012 that all 10 positions at the top have been occupied by Americans.

Arnault’s fall also reflects a broader change in the fortunes of the luxury industry.

LVMH has faced weaker demand in key markets, particularly China, while geopolitical tensions in the Middle East have affected spending in major shopping hubs such as Dubai. The group’s brands span high-end fashion, jewellery and watches, as well as premium wines and spirits.

China, once one of the biggest engines of luxury sales, has become a major challenge. LVMH has faced weaker consumer demand there, while a trademark dispute involving one of its brands has added to the company’s difficulties.

The contrast with the US technology sector has been stark.

The S&P 500 has gained 11 per cent this year, with technology companies benefiting from investor enthusiasm surrounding artificial intelligence. While tech fortunes have surged, luxury stocks have struggled to regain the momentum they enjoyed after the pandemic.

LVMH shares rose 0.5 per cent in early Paris trading on Friday. A day earlier, the company was briefly overtaken by L’Oreal SA as France’s largest company by market capitalisation.

Arnault had remained among the world’s 10 richest people since March 22, 2017. He briefly occupied the No. 1 position from December 2022, becoming the first person from outside North America to reach the top of the Bloomberg wealth ranking.

He was also the only major consumer-goods billionaire to reach the pinnacle in an era dominated increasingly by technology fortunes.

His rise coincided with a golden period for luxury brands. Chinese consumers were spending heavily on high-end goods, while pent-up demand after pandemic restrictions gave luxury companies another powerful boost.

LVMH shares reached a record high in April 2023. But the momentum has since weakened as Chinese demand slowed, US tariff uncertainty grew and alcohol consumption declined in some markets.

Arnault’s fortune now places him just above Jim Walton, a second-generation heir to the Walmart fortune.

The change in his wealth ranking comes as LVMH also faces questions about its future leadership.

Succession has become one of the most closely watched issues surrounding Arnault and his five children, all of whom work within the family-controlled luxury group. At the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in April, all five appeared together publicly for the first time at the event.

Arnault, however, sidestepped a question about who would eventually succeed him as chief executive.

For a businessman who transformed LVMH into one of the world’s most powerful luxury empires, the latest ranking is more than a change in a billionaire list. It reflects how quickly the forces that created enormous fortunes in the luxury boom can shift — and how the world’s richest are increasingly being shaped by technology rather than traditional consumer brands.