He’s still at the top. If Bernard Arnault still retains his place as “the richest man in the world”, France will have ten new billionaires in 2024, most of them heirs, bringing their total number to 53, according to the annual ranking Forbes published Friday April 5.
With Bernard Arnault and Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, heiress to L’Oréal, “the richest man in the world and the richest woman in the world are French” for the second year in a row, notes the magazine.
The LVMH boss is worth 215 billion euros, according to Forbes, which uses stock prices and exchange rates from March 29, 2024 for his list. He places himself, at the global level, ahead of the boss of Tesla, Elon Musk ($195 billion), and that of Amazon, Jeff Bezos ($194 billion).
The French top 5
Françoise Bettencourt Meyers (91.8 billion euros) comes in 15th position globally and second in France, ahead of Alain and Gérard Wertheimer, owners of Chanel (34 billion each). François Pinault (founder of PPR, now Kering) and his family, with 29.2 billion euros, complete the French top 5. A total of nine women, two more than in 2023, appear on the French list.
The richest new entrants are heirs: Olivier Dassault’s children, Helena and Rémi Dassault as well as Natacha Nikolajevic, respectively in 36th, 37th and 38th place with a total fortune estimated at $2.5 billion. “Several new fortunes are distributed among the heir children,” notes Forbes.
The new billionaires Daniel and Bris Rocher (39th and 40th positions) are heirs – nephew and son – of the Yves Rocher cosmetics empire. “Luxury shoe and handbag designer Christian Louboutin also enters the ranking” in 48th place, with a fortune estimated at $1.2 billion, says Forbes.