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French luxury billionaire Bernard Arnault has lost $65 billion this year, the largest decline among the world's 500 wealthiest people, dropping him out of the top ten richest for the first time since March 2017.
Arnault's fortune fell to $143 billion on Thursday, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, placing him 11th, below Warren Buffett and just above Walmart heir Jim Walton. He was worth more than $250 billion at the height of the post-pandemic luxury boom.
His departure leaves all ten top places held by Americans for the first time since the index launched in 2012. Elon Musk leads at $918.8 billion, followed by Larry Page, Jeff Bezos, Sergey Brin and Michael Dell.
The share price is the fortune
Arnault derives most of his wealth from a 49 percent stake in LVMH, held largely through his 97.5 percent ownership of listed Christian Dior and through Financière Agache, the family investment vehicle. His fortune therefore tracks the share price almost exactly.
LVMH trades at about €415, against €892 just over three years ago. The stock peaked in April 2023 and has since been hit by weak demand in China, uncertainty from US tariffs and falling alcohol consumption in some markets. The war in the Middle East has curbed spending in hubs such as Dubai.
While LVMH has fallen, the S&P 500 has gained 11 percent this year, driven substantially by technology stocks and AI-related demand. That divergence, rather than anything Arnault has done, produced the ranking change.
LVMH reported revenue of €80.8 billion in 2025.
Succession still unresolved
Arnault, 77, took over the bankrupt textile group that owned Christian Dior in 1984, sold its other businesses and used the proceeds to buy control of LVMH. He became chairman and chief executive in 1989.
All five of his children from two marriages work at the company, and all spoke at a shareholders' meeting for the first time in April, where Arnault declined to answer a question about who would succeed him as chief executive.
His declared annual salary for 2026 is €1,138,307, unchanged from 2025. Earlier this year he was ordered to pay €22.5 million to French tax authorities after a long-running dispute.
A spokeswoman for Arnault declined to comment on Bloomberg's net worth calculation.
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