Not even a divorce could dethrone Jeff Bezos from his position as the richest person in the world.
The guy makes R36 000 a second. Let that sink in.
Bezos is king of a very exclusive club that until recently only had two members – Bezos and Bill Gates.
Take a moment to watch the adorable video that Gates made for his bestie Warren Buffett.
You’re welcome.
Back to the story at hand. The criterion for membership to said club is a fortune of over $100 billion, and Bernard Arnault, Europe’s richest person, is officially the third person to crack it, reports Fortune.
Arnault, chairman of LVMH, entered the ranks of centibillionaires Tuesday as the luxury-goods maker climbed 2.9% to a record 368.80 euros a share. His net worth has increased almost $32 billion this year, the most on the 500-member Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
France’s multibillionaires have contributed the most wealth among European members of Bloomberg’s ranking in 2019.
Arnault’s fortune of $100.4 billion now equals more than 3% of France’s economy, underscoring the wealth gap in his native country, where protesters have agitated this year for more benefits paid for by the rich.
Even amid growing trade tensions, Chinese consumers’ appetite for Louis Vuitton handbags and Hennessy cognac has bolstered results for LVMH, the owner of Dom Perignon Champagne and Tag Heuer watches. The company’s shares have surged 43% this year, the third-best performer on France’s CAC 40 Index.
Arnault and his family were among those who pledged more than $650 million in April for the reconstruction of Notre Dame Cathedral.
He controls about half of Paris-based LVMH through a family holding company and also owns a 97% stake in Christian Dior, the fashion house founded three years before his birth in 1949.
Arnault entered the luxury-goods market by acquiring a textile group that owned Christian Dior. He sold all of the company’s other businesses and used the proceeds to buy a controlling stake in LVMH in 1988.
If you’re struggling to wrap your head around the idea of $100 billion, this handy video explaining the difference between a million and a billion should do the trick.
[source:fortune]
