Bernard Arnault, the owner of a luxury brand Louis Vuitton, became the richest person alive, according to the latest data from Forbes Real-time Billionaires List. However, after a short duration, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos reclaimed the top spot with a wealth estimate of $188.2 billion.

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The French fashion tycoon is the owner of the Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy, an umbrella company of various fashion labels like Givenchy, Christian Dior, Tag Heuer, Sephora and Marc Jacobs among many others.

Arnault's wealth catapulted in the last year by over $100 billion as the LVMH group's business operations continued unhindered even during the pandemic. On May 24, the market capitalisation of LVMH rose by 0.4 percent up to $320 billion and increased Arnault's wealth by $600 million, enough to put him at the top spot when trading ended for the day.

Even as the pandemic ravaged many sectors, LVMH beat the estimates of analysts by showing growth fuelled by Chinese and emerging Asian economies in the previous quarter. The company's value has increased by 20 percent this year already.

Apart from LVMH's sales growth, Arnault has remained busy these recent months by spending around $538 million to acquire more shares in the company, being confident about the sales and the future growth of the company, according to a Bloomberg report. The stock purchases happened through company channels that he controls with his family, as revealed in regulatory filings this week.

The world's richest list is dominated by tech giants at the top, with only three individuals in the top 10 not being directly related to tech-based industries for their wealth. Apart from Arnault, the other two are legendary investor Warren Buffet who owes most of his wealth to Berkshire Hathaway, and Amancio Ortega, another fashion tycoon from Spain who has a reputation of keeping out of the public eye.

First Published:May 25, 2021 1:35 PM IST