Who is Bernard Arnault, the man who dethroned Elon Musk as the richest in the world - AWN - All World News (2024)

Fortune, patronage and controversy

Bernard Arnault’s professional life began in 1985 in his father’s construction and public works company, which he reoriented towards the real estate market and later took over its general address is at 590.

After a million-dollar investment in a group that includes the textile division of Christian Dior, he became executive president of that company in 1971 and later managed to consolidate perfumes with haute couture in the holding company Christian Dior SA, which includes LVMH among its subsidiaries.

In 1987, buys LVMH shares and in the following years launches a plan ambitious for the expansion of the group that will make it number 1 in luxury items.

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In 2022, Forbes magazine calculated his fortune in US$14.000 million and in 2020 had already reached US$43.000, making him the richest man in France. Now in 2022, the same magazine places him in the first global position in personal wealth.

Arnault is an art lover and collector, owning works by artists such as Basquiat, Hirst, Warhol and Picasso.

He has enhanced the image of the LVMH group as an agent of patronage in France and created an international prize to support young creators. For his “dazzling generosity” he received the David Rockefeller Award from the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

But LVMH has not been without controversy. The Christian Dior brand was forced to fire its designer John Galliano for alleged anti-Semitic statements and the group was also linked to a case of discrimination and harassment of women within the Prada brand.

In December of 2021 , LMVH paid a claim of 000 million euros (US$12,2 million at the time) following allegations that a former French intelligence chief hired by the company had spied on competitors and the producers of a documentary on Arnault’s life.

What happened to Elon Musk?

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The main factor in the reduction of Elon Musk’s fortune is the fall in the value of his flagship company Tesla.

Musk was involved in an arduous legal fight to close his purchase of the social network Twitter, and some have pointed out that this distraction contributed to the fall in Tesla shares.

After accumulating shares in Twitter at the beginning of the year, Musk made his offer of US$43. million in April, although observers considered it too high .

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In July, he withdrew the offer, citing concerns about the number of fake accounts on the platform.

Finally, Twitter executives sued the mogul to fulfill his purchase promise.

• Elon Musk cancels his offer to buy Twitter: the social network will take legal action

  Dan Ives, of the investment firm Wedbush Securities, said that the “circus” that formed around the purchase of Twitter put pressure on Tesla shares.

  

  “Musk has gone from being a superhero of Tesla’s stock, to the villain in the eyes of Wall Street, as the fall deepens with each tweet”, he commented to the BBC.

  “The Twitter circus show has damaged the Musk brand and is a great drag on the Tesla assets. Musk is Tesla and Tesla is Musk”.

  Getty Images In November of 2020, Tesla had to withdraw 178.000 cars with software problems.

  Musk sold thousands of million in Tesla shares to finance its purchase of Twitter, which contributed to the reduction in the value of the electric car company.

  Investors are also wary of a slowdown of demand for the company’s electric cars, as the economy weakens, the cost of credit for buyers increases and the other comps Competing years drive their own range of electric vehicles.

  Tesla has also been affected by car recalls due to failures, in addition to government investigations of accidents and problems with the vehicles’ autopilot system.

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