Who is Bernard Arnault, the world’s richest person? The multi-billionaire's family, empire and wealth

It’s official. Bernard Arnault has overtaken Elon Musk as the World’s richest person. According to Forbes, the French businessman behind luxury goods house LVMH , now has a fortune estimated at $188 bn, compared to Elon Musk’s $178bn

The LVMH empire which includes such fashion brands as Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Christian Dior, Celine, jewellery brands such as Tiffany & Co, Chaumet and Bulgari, wines and champagnes such as Moet & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot and Hennessy, is headed up by 73 year old Bernard Arnault.

Bernard Arnault had briefly taken over from Elon Musk as the World’s richest person last week before Elon overtook him again. However, shares in Elon Musk’s electric car company, Tesla, have continued to fall, which has meant Bernard has eclipsed Elon once again.

So who is exactly Bernard Arnault and his family?

According to the LVMH website, Bernard Arnault was born to an industrial family in Roubaix in France on March 5, 1949. After completing his education he began his career as an engineer with the Ferret-Savinel construction company. He eventually became chairman of the company in 1978 and stayed there until 1984.

In his biography on the LVMH website, it reveals that in 1984, he “undertook the reorganisation of the Financiere Agache holding company” Bernard “returned the group to profitability as he embarked upon a strategy of developing the world’s leading luxury products company. In the process, he reinvigorated Christian Dior as the cornerstone of the new organisation.”

It is interesting, therefore, that it was only five days ago that Christian Dior named Bernard Arnault’s oldest son Antonine Arnault as the CEO and vice chairman of Christian Dior SE. According to Vogue Business, the Christian Dior SE holding company “controls 41 per cent of the capital and 56 per cent of the voting rights in the LVMH Group".

The reason why Antonine’s new position is also even more of interest is because much has been made in the press about all five of Bernard Arnault’s children vying for the LVMH empire. According to Fortune, “the ageing patriarch and his five children vying for power closely mirror HBO’s series Succession.”

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the programme Succession, it is a satirical black comedy drama based on the Roy family. They are the owners of a global media empire who are all jostling for control of the company over the uncertainty of the health of their father Logan Roy.

No sooner had the programme been released, than comparisons were immediately drawn between the fictional Roy family and the very real Murdoch family. According to Harper’s Bazaar, the creator Jesse Armstrong had the Murdochs in mind even before he created Succession. “Before Succession, the showrunner wrote a screenplay called Murdoch, a drama that details the family’s discussion about Rupert Murdoch’s successor on his 78th birthday. As fans of Succession will note, the series follows the Roy family’s discussion about patriarch Logan Roy’s successor on his 80th birthday.”

Like Rupert Murdoch (who has three adult children Elisabeth, Lachlan and James), who are all appear to be vying to be ‘heir apparent’ to his empire, Bernard has five children (all of whom work in the LVMH empire), who also appeared to be - until recently - jostling for top position. It will be interesting to see how Antoine’s recent elevation to CEO of Christian Dior SE will change the family and business dynamics.

Bernard Arnault’s four other children who work in his LVMH empire are Frédéric, Delphine, Alexandre and Jean. Delphine Arnault is the 47-year old Executive Vice President of Louis Vuitton, Alexandre Arnault is the 30 year old executive vice president of product and communications at Tiffany & Co, Frédéric Arnault is the 27 year-old CEO of Tag Heuer. Jean Arnault, 24, is the director of marketing and development for Louis Vuitton watches.

Antonine Arnault, who is 45, is married to the supermodel Natalia Vodianova. The couple have two children together and she has three children from her former marriage to Justin Portman.

Although Antoine has recently been appointed the CEO of Christian Dior SE, there seems to be no slowing down of Bernard Arnault yet. At 73, he is comparatively very young to Rupert Murdoch’s 91. If he continues along the same trajectory as Rupert, his children will have to wait another 18 years before one of them officially takes over from their father!