Bernard Arnault, chairman and Chief Executive Officer of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, was the richest man in the world for most of the first half of 2024. But the weakness in LVMH stock contributed to him falling a few ranks down Forbes' list of billionaires by the end of the year.
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For some billionaires, 2024 brought astounding gains. Elon Musk was the first person to cross the $400 billion threshold and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s fortune climbed by nearly $92 billion. As of mid December, the 20 richest people in the world had grown to be worth a staggering $3 trillion. But not all billionaires had a banner year. Slower growth in China and weaker stock markets in Europe played a role in shrinking the fortunes of hundreds of billionaires. That malaise outside the U.S. is evident in the fact that four of the five biggest billionaire losers are non-Americans.
Bernard Arnault of luxury goods powerhouse LVMH was the largest loser this year, in sheer dollar terms. It didn’t start out that way. The French empire builder reigned as the world’s richest person from late January through late May. But shares of Paris-listed LVMH, which peaked in March, fell steadily starting in April amid weaker demand from shoppers in China, wiping away nearly $25 billion of Arnault’s fortune, a 12.6% hit. As of mid December, Arnault had fallen to No. 5 richest in the world on Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires ranking, with a fortune estimated at $171.3 billion.
Mexico’s Carlos Slim Helú was the second biggest loser. His most valuable asset by far is his stake in Mexico-based mobile telecom player América Móvil, which operates in 22 countries in Latin America, Central Europe and Eastern Europe. A nearly 20% tumble in América Móvil shares, combined with the weakening of the Mexican peso vs. the U.S. dollar, led to a $22.9 billion contraction in his fortune–to an estimated $81.3 billion.
Weaker consumer demand in China also significantly dented the fortune of L’Oréal heir Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, whose grandfather founded the cosmetics behemoth. Sales in North Asia, which includes China, fell 6.5% in the third quarter amid what the company described as a “challenging” ecosystem in China. Shares fell nearly 24% through December 13, erasing $22 billion from Bettencourt Meyers’ net worth. Despite the sizable drop, she’s still–at $74.7 billion–the second wealthiest woman in the world (behind Walmart heir Alice Walton).
Colin Huang, the founder and former chairman of online retailer Temu’s parent PDD Holdings, rose to become China’s richest person this summer. Then a sharp, 31% plunge in the share price of PDD Holdings beginning in August–after it missed second-quarter earnings estimates–robbed him of that title. Huang ends the year worth $15.3 billion less than he began it, as the fourth richest Chinese billionaire, worth $36 billion.
The fifth biggest loser this year was Bill Gates. But the $12 billion decline in his fortune has more to do with asset shuffling than stock price movement. When Bill’s ex-wife Melinda French Gates resigned as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in June, she announced that she’d be receiving $12.5 billion for her philanthropic efforts. The source of the funds wasn’t disclosed, but Forbes learned that the assets were from Bill, not from the Gates Foundation. Taking into account that asset transfer plus additional new information Forbes obtained about Bill Gates’ fortune led us to nearly triple our estimate of the divorce settlement with Melinda to $29 billion as of October 2024.
Things for this ultrawealthy set could be worse. Two years ago, the five biggest billionaire losers saw a collective $378 billion–a record amount–go up in smoke. That makes the combined $97 billion in losses for these five this year seem like a walk in the park. Plus, they have plenty of money left to help cushion the blow.
Here are the biggest billionaire losers of 2024
(Data as of December 13, 2024)
Bernard Arnault
Citizenship: France
Source of wealth: Luxury goods
Net worth: $171.3 billion (Down by $24.7 billion in 2024)
Carlos Slim Helu of Mexico
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Carlos Slim Helú
Citizenship: Mexico
Source of wealth: Telecom, investments
Net worth: $81.3 billion (Down $22.9 billion)
Francoise Bettencourt Meyers
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Francoise Bettencourt Meyers
Citizenship: France
Source of wealth: L’Oréal
Net worth: $74.7 billion (Down $22 billion)
Colin Huang of China
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Colin Huang
Citizenship: China
Source of wealth: E-commerce
Net worth: $36 billion (Down $15.3 billion)
Bill Gates
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Bill Gates
Citizenship: U.S.
Source of wealth: Microsoft, investments Net worth: $107 billion (Down $12 billion)