Although the tycoon is still the world’s richest man, his loss narrows the gap between his fortune and that of the second wealthiest man, Elon Musk.
Bernard Arnault—the founder of luxury conglomerate LVMH and the world’s richest man according to Forbes—recently lost $11.2 billion worth of his personal fortune last Tuesday. This stems from an LVMH stock rout that caused 5 percent of the company’s shares to fall, which is the highest drop it’s experienced this year.
The stock sell-off comes after rising concerns about the declining luxury market in the U.S. and China. The European luxury sector experienced a $30 billion decline due to these developments.
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Arnault is still the richest man in the world; even with the sell-off, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index indicates that he has an impressive fortune of $191.6 billion. That said, the gap between his wealth and that of the second richest man, Elon Musk, has narrowed considerably to $11.4 million.
While Arnault’s loss is quite hefty, it hasn’t made much of a dent on his finances. The billionaire gained $29.5 billion this year. Despite the market fall, LVMH—which houses brands like Moët, Hennessy, Louis Vuitton, and Dior—still has a 23% increase in stock value compared to the previous year.
Still, the slowing growth of the U.S. market may be a cause for concern. According to Bloomberg, Deutsche Bank AG analysts Matt Garland and Adam Cochrane stated that investors may be more selective with European luxury stocks due to this decline.
Banner by Paolo Torio, photo via Instagram @lvmh.
