A well-built business can bring huge profits to its owner. Recently, the Frenchman Bernard Arnault managed to increase his fortune to a level above $ 100 billion. At the same time, a successful businessman is absolutely not going to stop there and, probably, will soon be able to move from second to first place in the ranking of the richest people on the planet.
A sharp increase
In March 2019, Bernard Arnault was in 4th place on the list of the richest people in the world. In early spring, his fortune was $ 76 billion. In just 3 months, the shares of his companies grew significantly and allowed him to rise to the 2nd line of Forbes. His fortune reached the level of 103.2 billion dollars. Bill Gates lost just $ 300 million to him. And this despite the fact that the shares of Microsoft owned by him also rose significantly in the 2nd quarter of 2019.
A profit of $ 27 billion in just a few months, the famous French businessman brought the shares of his companies. The main role here was played by his brands Louis Vuitton and Moet & Chandon. As a result of the growth in the value of their shares, the capitalization of companies also increased. At the same time, financiers predict a further increase in the value of these securities.
Behind the leader
Jeff Bezos is by far the richest man on the planet with a fortune of $ 124 billion. At the same time, he recently lost immediately $ 37.5 billion as a result of the divorce proceedings with Mackenzie Bezos. As a result, Bernard Arnault, the closest pursuer, had a great opportunity to get ahead of Amazon founder and CEO. To do this, he should increase his fortune by about $ 21 billion, provided that the shares of the well-known online trading platform do not rise in price.
Given the pace of capitalization of Louis Vuitton and Moet & Chandon over the previous quarter, the enterprising Frenchman has every chance to take the leading position in the list of the richest inhabitants of the planet in the fall of 2019.
Causes of Abnormal Growth
The main factor behind the sharp increase in the value of Louis Vuitton and Moet & Chandon shares was a significant increase in the demand of wealthy people for luxury goods and other products of these brands. As a result, the LVMH conglomerate, which includes both of these companies, was able to report a record net profit for 2018 in the amount of $ 11.2 billion. It is not surprising that investors from all over the world wanted to acquire shares in such successful companies.
The first quarter of 2019 was also very successful for LVMH. The conglomerate was able to increase sales of its products by 16% compared to the same period last year.
Continuous development
Despite the success achieved, Bernard Arnault is not going to stop there. The dynamic development of companies owned by this Frenchman has been observed for at least 35 years since the acquisition of Christian Dior. It was then that Bernard's business began to gradually reorient to luxury goods, fashionable clothes and accessories.
One of the recent successful steps of a successful Frenchman and his LVMH concern was the beginning of cooperation with the famous fashion designer Stella McCartney. Now he will be the Advisor on Sustainable Development. According to Stella McCartney herself, after leaving Kering Corporation (a direct competitor of LVMH) 1.5 years ago, she received many offers of cooperation in one form or another, but she rejected them all. Only Bernard Arnault and his son Antoine managed to get a well-known fashion designer in their staff.
The choice of the richest Frenchman fell on Stella McCartney for the reason that her fashion house has a fairly high level of stability. Bernard Arnault hopes that she will be able to make his own concern more sustainable. In addition, the French businessman is interested in the style of her fashion house. It is an ethical approach to creating luxury goods. This style allowed Stella McCartney to attract the attention of a huge number of wealthy fashion connoisseurs.
The recent acquisition of new companies further strengthens the position of the French billionaire. For example, recently Bernard Arnault became the owner of Belmond, engaged in hotel business, trains and safari. The recent cooperation of a successful Frenchman with singer Rihanna in the framework of the Fenty Beauty and Fenty Fashion House projects also played a positive role in the value of LVMH shares. As a result, today Bernard Arnault can confidently look into the future of his concern.