Being wealthy and staying wealthy are two different things. Similarly, getting featured on the world’s rich list, and staying there are not quite the same achievement. That statement applies only to a select few people on the planet and it applies aptly to LVMH boss Bernard Arnault. The timing couldn’t have been more ironic, as the fashion mogul who entered the rich list in 2018, would have completed ten consecutive years on the prestigious list in 2027. At the time of writing, the 77-year-old ranks at No. 13 of Forbes’ real-time ranking worth about $129 billion. For the longest time, Arnault held his position as the only fashion mogul on a list dominated by tech billionaires like Elon Musk, Larry Page, Jeff Bezos, Michael Dell, Sergey Brin, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison, Jensen Huang and Steve Ballmer.
The owner of Louis Vuitton, Dior, Tiffany, Bulgari, Dom Pérignon was worth a cool $233 billion in 2024, and the world’s richest person for the second consecutive annual ranking. The fall has been steady but surprisingly swift, with Silicon Valley effectively pushing luxury out of the billionaire top 10, reported Bloomberg.
Interestingly, the person who replaced Arnault on this coveted list was Zara founder Amancio Ortega who gained about $5 billion in August, replacing France’s Bernard Arnault. The LVMH empire continues to perform strongly with a successful stint in the first half of 2026, generating $45 billion in revenue, $10 billion in recurring operating profit and almost $7 billion in net profit. While the company is on a roll, Arnault’s ranking seems to be rolling downhill.
Arnault went from a $233 billion Forbes high, to a whopping $104 billion less, now at $129 billion or about 45% less. To put this in perspective, Arnault lost Michael Bloomberg’s entire $95 billion fortune and then some. Despite this humongous change, the fact remains that LVMH is a profitable firm and it proudly became the first European company ever valued at $500 billion only three years ago. What connects fashion billionaires Arnault and Ortega, other than their changing positions in the Forbes rankings, is that both are also owners of two splendid superyachts, the under-construction $650 million Symphony and the $300 million Drizzle. Funnily enough, no matter how far they rise or fall, they can always settle into this floating lap of luxury.
