LV soared by nearly 13%, and Arnault surpassed Musk to become the world's richest man again.
The legacy of several ancient families has been at the center of the business world.
Walton, Rockefeller, Watson, Morgan, Disney, Rothschild...
Behind these well-known enterprises are world-class multinational corporations whose products penetrate all corners of the globe and whose wealth rivals that of the country.
Three of the world's top 20 billionaires are from the Walton family, and while most of these families do not deal in cutting-edge high-tech products, but rather an extension of food, clothing, housing and transportation, they all do the best in their respective fields.
On January 28, the Forbes real-time rich list showed that Bernard Arnault, the helm of LVMH, once again surpassed Musk at the helm of Tesla to become the richest man in the world.
On the one hand, Bernard Arnault caused Tesla's stock price to be lower than expected; On the other hand, LVMH's stock price surged nearly 13% on January 26 to a 15-year high due to the impact of LVMH's fourth-quarter revenue growth higher than expected, reaching a market capitalization of 388.8 billion.
The Arnault family's wealth also increased by 23.6 billion to 207.6 billion due to LVMH's share price**, narrowly surpassing Musk's 204.7 billion.
As the world's richest become richer and richer, the battle between the richest men will become more and more intense. But there is no doubt that this rotation can only happen within a certain range.
A magazine once commented that Bernard Arnault was undervalued as a business tycoon.
The magazine argues that Bernard Arnault is not a household name, unlike Musk, Bezos and Bill Gates on the list, but he is a regular at the Paris fashion show, always putting the clothes and the people who wear them in the spotlight.
As the head of a vast luxury empire, Bernard Arnault's family has nothing to do with fashion.
In fact, the previous generations of the Arnault family came from the real estate industry.
In the 80s of the 20th century, the decline of the French real estate industry prompted Bernard Arnault, the heir to the Arnault family, to enter the American market.
The experience in the United States completely changed Bernard Arnault and his family.
In 1984, Bernard Arnault, who had spent three years in the United States, returned to France and began a series of capital operations, perhaps as a result of Wall Street's new ideas and the power of capital.
Bernard Arnault, in his first battle for fame, set his sights on the French textile giant Bussac. At the time, Busack was on the verge of bankruptcy, although it was twice the size of the Arnault family business. Eventually, Bernard Arnault mortgaged the family business and paid 15 million out of his own pocket, plus 80 million from the investor, to include Busac in the group.
After this battle, Bernard Arnaud managed to take down Dior under the banner of Busac.
A drunkard's move not to drink allowed the Arnault family to get off to a successful start in the luxury industry. After the acquisition, Bernard Arnault also carried out a radical reform of Busac and began to concentrate on building the Dior brand. Under his manipulation, it took Dior only two years to get out of the trough and start making a profit.
In 1989, LVMH shares**, Bernard Arnault took the opportunity to acquire 24% of the group's shares for 1.8 billion, becoming its largest shareholder.
Finally, in a massive internal reorganization, Bernard Arnault firmly controlled LVMH, France's largest luxury conglomerate.
Taking advantage of the low end of the market has made Bernard Arnault controversial, but it has also allowed the Arnault family's wealth to grow exponentially.
Since then, Bernard Arnault has gone on a buying spree, from Givenchy to Hermès (2014**) from Fendi and Kenzo to Bulgari...
Eventually, LVHM became a global luxury empire with more than 70 brands spread across six sectors, namely Wine & Spirits, Fashion & Leather Goods, Perfumes & Cosmetics, Watches & Jewelry, Boutique Retail, and other activities in the arts and culture sectors. LV has also become one of the most familiar luxury brands for women around the world.
In 2021, the world economy was affected by the pandemic.
Miraculously, the luxury industry has seen a boom in the context of the pandemic, the closure of a large number of restaurants and factories, the decline in offline customer traffic, and the layoffs and salary cuts of small and medium-sized enterprises.
Throughout 2021, the LVMH Group's net profit increased by 156%.
In 2022, the LVMH Group built on the previous year's legacy and achieved good results, with record revenues, profits and share prices. With a series of advantages, Bernard Arnault began to attack the throne of the world's richest man.
Meanwhile, Bernard Arnault launched his succession plan in July 2022, proposing to restructure Agnache (the holding company that owns the majority of his shares in LVMH) in order to divide his shares equally among his five children.
When Bernard Arnault systematically and systematically searched for the best person for the LVMH group, the market voted in favor of his actions, because the inheritance of the family legacy, which is essential for the stability of the company, can avoid raising concerns in the future that the market and investors will have about the company's best people.
By planning ahead, LVMH can reduce the potential risk of leadership transitions.
Fueled by the LVMH Group's good results, Bernard Arnault surpassed Musk to become the world's richest man in April 2023 after unleashing several risks.
At that time, due to the acquisition of Twitter, coupled with Tesla's stock price**, Musk himself temporarily lost his position as the richest man. But due to the strong performance of Tesla's stock price in 2023, Musk soon became the richest man in the world again.
Of course, surpassing Bernard Arnault already says something, and it is much more likely to do it again.
in the global economic slowdown and consumers"Save money"Against the backdrop of luxury consumption, luxury consumption will also continue to cool from the second half of 2023.
As a result, many analysts have expressed concerns about LVMH's performance. But to the surprise of the outside world, LVMH's fourth-quarter revenue beat market expectations, reaching 239€500 million; Its full-year revenue was 861Euro 500 million and full-year operating profit of €22.8 billion exceeded market expectations.
As a result, LVMH's share price jumped nearly 13% on January 26 to hit a new high. Tesla, on the other hand, has suffered from a weaker-than-expected performance of 1364%, Bernard Arnault once again surpassed Musk to become the richest man in the world.
According to Kanchanika Finance, while most of the wealth of global billionaires is tied to the market capitalization of their companies, the cash flow generated by major luxury consumer goods companies is substantial. These companies tend to invest little in R&D, but their cash flows are strong, so Bernard Arnault's wealth is likely to be underestimated. LVMH's better-than-expected results also suggest that the affluent middle class in Europe and the US may have limited impact and that their purchasing power remains strong, suggesting that global luxury consumption remains resilient.