TheCable

Bernard Arnault, chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH), has surpassed Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, as the richest person in the world.

According to Forbes’ real-time billionaires list, Arnault and his family’s net worth grew to $207.8 billion after a $23.6 billion increase on Friday — overtaking Musk, who is worth $204.5 billion.

The development comes as LVMH shares rose at the close of business on Friday — soaring over 12 percent on the heels of strong sales reports.

Arnault, a French businessman, investor and art collector, oversees the LVMH empire of 75 fashion and cosmetics brands, including Louis Vuitton and Sephora.

In 2021, LVMH acquired American jeweller Tiffany & Co. for $16 billion — an acquisition believed to be the largest luxury brand purchase ever.

Arnault has five children — Delphine, Antoine, Alexandre, Frédéric, and Jean — who all have official roles in brands controlled by Arnault.

Arnault, on January 25, 2024, nominated two more of his children to sit on the company board.

Agache, Arnault’s holding company, backs venture capital firm, Aglaé Ventures, which owns investments in businesses such as Netflix and ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company.

Meanwhile, Femi Otedola, who fell below the billion-dollar mark in 2017, rejoined the billionaires’ list on January 12, 2023 — with Forbes ranking him the 20th richest person in Africa.

In the same vein, Aliko Dangote, president of Dangote Group, rejoined Bloomberg’s world’s top 100 billionaires’ list — making him the only Nigerian and African to join the list.