LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault took another multibillion-dollar hit to his net worth this week, after the company reported its first quarterly decline in sales since the COVID-19 pandemic.
LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the company he has run for decades as CEO, saw its shares plummet 7% on Tuesday after it reported a 3% drop in sales, costing Arnault nearly $10 billion in a single day, according to Fortune.
LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault attends the Viva Technology show at Parc des Expositions Porte de Versailles on May 23, 2024, in Paris, France. (Chesnot/Getty Images / Getty Images)
The French company is the corporate parent of luxury brands including Louis Vuitton, Dom Perignon, Givenchy and Tiffany & Co.
Arnault began the year as the world's wealthiest person when his wealth hit a high of $231 billion in March, but the LVHM founder has dropped from the top of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index to No. 5 with an estimated net worth of $175 billion as of Thursday.
People walk past the site of the proposed Cheval Blanc Hotel from LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, California, on May 23, 2023. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The index indicates that Arnault has lost some $32.2 billion so far this year. He and his family own a nearly 50% stake in LVMH, and the French conglomerate's shares are down more than 16% year to date.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has regained the title of the world's wealthiest person with a net worth of $242 billion, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is currently in second place at $210 billion.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk arrives at the Tenth Breakthrough Prize Ceremony at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, California, on April 13, 2024. (Photo by Etienne Laurent/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Oracle co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Larry Ellison is at No. 4, just ahead of Arnault, with an estimated net worth of $185 billion.
FOX Business' Aislinn Murphy and Reuters contributed to this report.