In the second week of March, Bernardz Renault’s net worth surged to $197 billion, and he took over the world’s richest title from the billionaire founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos. Bezos led Arnault for less than a week, thanks to a margin of approximately $1 billion.
Renault cut Bezos’s short-lived stint on the number one spot. The Amazon founder was just settling into the top spot after Elon Musk’s net worth tanked. Before the recent shake-up in the rating, Musk held the title since 2021, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index.
These three financial giants have consistently maintained the top three positions on the billionaire index in the past three years. Poor sales performance of Tesla vehicles in China is said to be responsible for the recent drop of Musk on the list. Preliminary data from the Asian country revealed that its Tesla sales were at their lowest in February.
Renault is the least prolific of the trio, and many people do not even realize that he controls some very popular international brands. The lifestyle billionaire made a name for himself by building Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH), a conglomerate of luxury brands.
Moreover, Renault has a reputation for being an invasive investor. He started his journey by buying off an ailing French company, Agache-Willot-Boussac, in 1984. Currently, his conglomerate includes brands like Tiffany & Co, Celine, Louis Vuitton and Dom Pérignon.
Overall, the LVMH conglomerate has brought Renault his fortune through luxury products like perfume, jewelry, fashion, watches, and alcohol. However, his 97.5% majority stake in Christian Dior is the largest source of his fortune.
Renault has married twice. However, his first marriage ended in divorce. He is the father of five children: Antoine and Delphine from his first marriage and Alexandre, Frédéric, and Jean from the latter.
The Renault family related briefly to the US in the late 80s due to the popularity of French Socialism at the time. The regime was out to tax the rich, and Renault decided to relocate in open defiance of the new legislation.
Presently, Arnault is the CEO and chair of LVMH, a position he holds on to by adjusting the company’s charter to set the retirement age of executives at 70. There are widespread rumors that the 75-year-old billionaire is trying to buy more time to pick his successor.
At the moment, Arnault’s eldest child and daughter, Delphine, is the CEO and chair of Christian Dior Couture. Antoine, on the other hand, heads the holding company of LVMH. All the junior Arnaults are involved in the running of the conglomerate, with the youngest, Jean, joining the business in 2021. He is the marketing and product director of the Louis Vuitton watch division.