The US “Forbes” magazine released the 2023 Global Billionaires List on the 4th. According to the latest data, Bernard Arnault, founder of the French luxury brand LVMH, became the new richest man in the world this year. His current personal wealth is about $211 billion. It is worth mentioning that Tesla CEO Elon Musk lost his status as the richest man and fell to second place, while Amazon founder Jeff Bezos ranked third.
The French luxury brands tycoon, Bernard Arnault, has topped the world’s billionaires list for the first time, with his LVMH group having a stellar run over the past year. The group, which owns brands including LV, Dior and Tiffany, hit record highs in revenue, profits and share prices last year, boosting Bernard Arnault’s fortune over the past 12 months to 53 billion U.S. dollars, the most significant increase among all the rich.
It is worth mentioning that Bernard Arnault, more affluent than ever, is now planning his succession. It is reported that Bernard Arnault proposed reorganising Agache. This holding company held most of his LVMH shares in July last year so that his shares could be divided equally among his five children.
In addition, Elon Musk acquired Twitter for US$44 billion in October 2022, and Tesla’s stock price plummeted by 50%. While SpaceX’s stock has continued to climb, a takeover bid that closes in early 2023 values the company at nearly $140 billion, up from the $127 billion valuation investors gave it last May. But despite this, Musk’s net worth has shrunk by US$39 billion from a year ago, ranking second in the 2023 global billionaire list, losing his status as the wealthiest man.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos ranks third on the list; Oracle Corp co-founder Larry Ellison ranks fourth with $107 billion; Warren Buffett ranks fifth with $106 billion; Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates was No. 6.
The number of people on the 2023 Forbes Global Billionaires List has decreased by 28 compared with 2022, with 2,640 people and a total wealth of US$12.2 trillion. Among all the people on the list, the United States has 736 richest people, ranking first in the world. China followed with 562.
