The 200 billion dollar man; how Bernard Arnault topped the 2023 Forbes Billionaire list

He’s been steadily climbing up the list since his debut in 2018, but LVMH head Bernard Arnault has finally reached the financial summit, topping the 2023 Forbes Billionaire List and becoming one of only three men to surpass the $200 billion USD mark in history. He joins two other entrepreneurs who have reached this pinnacle of success, but with 2023’s list showing a number of billionaires going down in net worth, it’s impressive that Arnault achieved this feat. 

In a statement from the conglomerate in January, LVMH boasted that in the last financial year they recorded a “revenue of €79.2 billion ($86.7 billion USD) in 2022 and profit from recurring operations of €21.1 billion, both up 23%.” The conglomerate saw sharp growth in Europe, the United States and Japan thanks to strong demand from local customers and the recovery of international travel, while operations across Asia were stable over the year due to developments in the health situation in China.

But what from LVMH has led to Bernard Arnault leading the charge as the most successful billionaire throughout 2022 to 2023? Well, that would go down to the portfolio the conglomerate owns and how sometimes not completely diversifying your products is helpful, if not slightly insular in business operations.

Of the products that LVMH houses, it turns out that their range of wines and spirits became a big earner in 2022; LVMH have cited that their Wines & Spirits business group recorded revenue growth of 19% in 2022 (11% on an organic basis). Profit from recurring operations was up 16% with Champagne providing the majority of that income with an increase in sales up by 6%.

Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Celine, Fendi, Loro Piana, Loewe and Marc Jacobs also helped with the increase in profit, with the Fashion and Leather Goods business group recording a growth of 25% in 2022, with Louis Vuitton particularly commended due to its “strong ties” with art and culture. Indeed, the rise of celebrities out and about with Louis Vuitton bags seems to have grown exponentially in the last year, and a number of women’s ready-to-wear fashion shows helmed by Nicolas Ghesquière were, in LVHM’s words, “extremely well-received”

Those Louis Vuitton fashion shows have also attracted a renewed interest in the fashion house with a younger, dare we say it “on trend” audience, with the likes of Emma Stone, Zendaya, Ana de Armas, Léa Seydoux, Alicia Vikander and Sophie Turner all spotted at the Fall Winter 2023 Womenswear Collection in March. Tiffany & Co also saw record profits in 2022, with a growing trend among many a throwback to the sophisticated, understated charm of the 1940s as opposed to the loud, maximalist “Y2K fashion” trend implementing a lot of vibrant colours - “dopamine dressing” as it has been touted. 

Perhaps both are a testament to the faith Arnault has placed in his son and daughter; Delphine is executive CEO of LVMH and also CEO of Dior, while Alexandre Arnault has made a splash as EVP of Tiffany & Co, holding star-studded events to help promote the brand from it’s long sleeping giant status (in this writer’s humble opinion.)

Across the entire conglomerate, every department housed by LVMH and Bernard Arnault has seen a growth increase in 2022, with the least amount of growth in the realm of Perfumes and Cosmetics; even then though, it trails by 1% compared to other business groups.

Have any other billionaires ever reached the $200 billion mark before?

There have been two businessmen who have previously reached the same pinnacle as Bernard Arnault has this year. The first person to ever reach a net worth of $200 billion USD is Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who reached this historic milestone in 2020 when he was valued at $204.6 billion USD. This was attributed to the pandemic, where more people were developing their online shopping habits in light of a widespread shutdown of non-essential stores across the United Kingdom

The other person to have reached that milestone is our old friend Elon Musk, who cemented himself as the wealthiest man in 2022 with a net worth of $201.9 million. Though it has been well documented his losses throughout 2022 to 2023, including the messy acquisition of Twitter, he is still the second richest billionaire in the world - for now.