Who Is The World's Richest Man? Jeff Bezos Loses Top Spot To Bernard Arnault

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos lost his top spot as the richest man in the world to French fashion mogul Bernard Arnault.

On Monday, Arnault’s net worth reached $195.8 billion. The founder, chair, and chief executive of Moet Hennessy-Louis Vuitton, a company that includes luxury brands Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Bulgari, Tag Heuer, Sephora, Hennessy, and Tiffany, surpassed Bezos, who is listed at $192.6 billion, according to Forbes.

Arnault’s new financial ranking is due to shares of Amazon plummeting 7.6% Thursday after reporting earnings. This meant Bezos’ fortune fell by $13.9 billion in one day.

Meanwhile, Moet Hennessy-Louis Vuitton saw its price of shares climb 35% in 2021, and shares of surged 140% since its March 2020 low.

The company had taken a hit during the pandemic but quickly rebounded amid China’s economic recovery. On renewed consumer confidence in high luxury goods, Moet Hennessy-Louis Vuitton reported a record first half in 2021, with revenue of about $34 billion.

According to Barrons, a resurgence in luxury spending has come as the world’s richest people have become even richer through the pandemic, with total wealth rising to $431 trillion in 2020 that was driven by savings, stocks, and real estate.

The world’s top billionaires also include Tesla’s Elon Musk, Microsoft’s Bill Gates and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg.