Tesla's Elon Musk is no longer the richest person in the world

Bernard Arnault, who is currently the Chairman and CEO of LVHM, has left Tesla's founder Elon Musk behind in the race to be the richest person in the world, Forbes reported.

The net worth of the French billionaire and his family stands at $207.6 billion while Musk is in second position with $204.7 billion.

The two have been fighting for the position since 2022. Arnault became the richest person on the planet in late 2022, surpassing Elon Musk as tech stocks struggled in the face of high inflation.


How did Arnault supass Musk?
Observing a surge of $23.6 billion increase on Friday, Arnault and his family’s net worth grew to $207.8 billion overtaking Musk’s $204.5 billion, Forbes reported.

The update of Musk losing first place came after Musk lost more than $18 billion in net worth when Tesla's stock saw a dip of nearly 13 per cent on Thursday.

LVHM Q4 results that helped Arnault:
Luxury goods group LVMH posted a 10 per cent rise in fourth-quarter sales on Thursday, as growth edged up from the previous quarter, driven by resilient demand - including from Chinese buyers - for its high-end fashion over the all-important end-of-year period.

Sales at the world's biggest luxury group, which owns labels, including Louis Vuitton, Dior and Tiffany, came to nearly 24 billion euros ($26 billion) in the final three months of the year.

"The highest-end products are those that have the highest demand in the world," LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault told analysts, citing haute couture products from labels like Christian Dior and adding that this trend was set to continue.

Arnault said he was happy with LVMH's growth rate and was "very confident" about 2024.

Who is Bernard Arnault?
Born to an industrial family in Roubaix, France on March 5, 1949, Arnault attended the Roubaix lycée and the Faidherbe lycée in Lille.

In 1989, the business tycoon became the majority shareholder of LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton and helped in the creation of the world’s leading luxury products group.

Since then, Arnault has been Chairman and CEO of the company. For his contributions to the country, he has been honoured with the titles of Grand Officier de la Légion d’Honneur and Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres.

(with agency inputs)