Photo: ERIC PIERMONT/AFP/ Getty
Bernard Arnault, the French billionaire and head of luxury goods conglomerate LVMH, is closing in on the title of world’s richest person after his company agreed to purchase Tiffany & Company in a $16 billion deal on Monday.
The 70-year-old businessman — who serves as chairman of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, indisputably the world’s largest luxury company — is now worth $106.8 billion, according toForbes.
LVMH — of which Arnault and his family own more than 47%, perCNN— now claims more than 70 luxury brands under its umbrella, including Christian Dior, Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Celine, Bulgari, Hublot, TAG Heuer, and Dom Perignon champagne, according toFortune.
The purchase places Arnault just (billions) shy of the two wealthiest people in the world, Microsoft founderBill Gatesand Amazon founderJeff Bezos.
Jeff Bezos.Drew Angerer/Getty
Forbe’s “Real-Time Billionaires List,” which tracks the net worth of the richest people in the world, placed Gates at $107 billion and Bezos at $110.2 billion on Monday. Warren Buffet,Mark Zuckerbergand Larry Ellison round out the top six wealthiest people.
According to theNew York Times, Arnault first began his accumulation of companies in the 1980s, when he purchased a bankrupt French textile company called Boussac. He sold most of the company but kept one piece, Dior, and expanded it.
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The newspaper says Arnault has a reputation for being extremely competitive and wanted to own the top luxury company when he realized he couldn’t be No. 1 in his two other passions, piano and tennis.
source: people.com
