// LVMH president Bernard Arnault becomes world’s 2nd richest man
// He overtakes Microsoft founder Bill Gates but stays behind Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos
// Forbes put his net worth at £82.61bn
The president of luxury retail conglomerate LVMH, Bernard Arnault, has become the world’s second-richest man – overtaking Microsoft tycoon Bill Gates for the first time.
Arnault’s net worth is currently at $105.1 billion (£82.61 billion), putting him just behind Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, according to Forbes.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg has reported that Arnault has a personal wealth of $108 billion (£84.91 billion), an increase of $39 billion (£30.66 billion) since the start of the year.
This makes it the largest gain among the world’s 500 richest persons in 2019.
According to both Forbes and Bloomberg, businessman Warren Buffett and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg complete the top 5 list.
LVMH owns luxury retailers Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Fendi, Givenchy and Bulgari, among others.
Arnault and his family were among the billionaires to pledge £173 million to help repair Paris’ iconic and World Heritage-listed Notre Dame Cathedral, which was ravaged by a fire in April.
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