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Luxury icon Bernard Arnault’s wealth increased by nearly $19 billion (€16.3bn) after a surge in the share price of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.
The rally followed the release of the company’s better-than-expected quarterly results on Wednesday.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the French businessman’s wealth climbed to $192bn (€164.8bn), driven by a 12% increase in the value of LVMH shares.
Forbes estimated Arnault’s net worth at $181.8bn (€156.6bn), earning him the seventh place on Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires List of the world’s wealthiest people. The share movements also make him the world’s richest man outside of the US.
With France currently embroiled in political turmoil, the businessman recently drew attention for criticising Gabriel Zucman, a French economist pushing for heavier taxes on the rich.
France’s government is weighing solutions to fill the gaping deficit in its budget, which stood at 5.8% of GDP in 2024. The deficit accompanies ballooning public debt, which climbed to 113% of GDP in Europe’s second-largest economy.
Shares of the world’s biggest luxury group, LVMH, rose significantly on Wednesday on strong second-quarter results and signs that demand in China could fuel future growth.
While Japan was an exception, the rest of the Asian market, dominated by China, “saw a noticeable improvement in trends” in the first nine months, compared to the same period in 2024, said the company in a statement.
However, the euphoria propping up the shares was timid compared to investors’ enthusiasm seen earlier this year, which boosted the share price as high as €752, compared to the current €598.90.
The rise in the share price on Wednesday was enough to lift the company’s market valuation to just below €300bn, earning it the title of the second most valuable publicly traded company in Europe, after Dutch chip equipment maker ASML.
LVMH shares were mostly flat on Thursday morning trading in Paris.
