Chairman and CEO of the luxury goods conglomerate Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH) Bernard Arnault is now the richest person in the world, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He has a staggering net worth that stands at USD 172 billion, as on 15 December 2022. This makes one wonder how the business magnate spends his wealth and what the most expensive things owned by Bernard Arnault are. We take a look.
The French fashion mogul surpassed Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to grab the apex position on the billionaires’ index. While Musk’s net worth plummeted by USD 107 billion in 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Twitter row, Arnault, too, suffered a dip — but a mild one — of USD 7 billion, CNN reported.
The current richest person on the planet has many luxe assets and a lifestyle that defines grandeur and opulence at every turn.
Here are some of the most expensive things owned by Bernard Arnault
Luxury purchases portfolio
He started his journey to the top in the 1980s when he first ventured into fashion with USD 15 million from his father’s construction business. He got the rest of USD 65 million financed from Lazard to buy Boussac – the then-parent company of Christian Dior – in 1985. Since then, Arnault has been acquiring luxury brands and earned nicknames like “the wolf in the cashmere coat” in French media.
In 1987, the conglomerate LVMH came into existence with the merger of Moët & Chandon and Hennessy, the world’s largest champagne and cognac producers, respectively. Bernard Arnault then went on to conquer leading European luxury brands, including couture-brand Givenchy (1988), French perfume, makeup and skincare giant Guerlain (1994), French leather luxury goods brand Céline (1996), the Italian jewellery brand Bvlgari (2011), Paris-based couture house Christian Dior (2017), American luxury jewellery and accessory brand Tiffany & Co. (2020) and Italian luxury label Off-White (2021), bringing the total to 75 stellar brands.
Apart from luxury brands, Bernard Arnault has taken the helm of other pursuits such as hotels, artwork, yachts and culture