Luxury Stock Plunge... Arnaud Also Loses Position as World's 2nd Richest Person

Tech Stock Rally: Amazon Turns the Tables on Bezos

Bernard Arnault, chairman of Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (LVMH), a leading luxury goods company, has relinquished his position as the world's second-richest person due to a decline in his asset valuation.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index on the 16th (local time), Arnault's stock valuation stood at $155.1 billion (approximately 210 trillion KRW), dropping him to third place in the global wealth rankings. Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, reclaimed the second spot with a stock valuation of $156.3 billion, boosted by a recent rally in tech stocks.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

Arnault, owner of over 70 luxury brands including Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, and Tiffany, rose to the world's richest person in December last year by surpassing CEO Elon Musk, and had maintained the second position since May.

Arnault's assets have decreased by a total of $6.95 billion this year. During the same period, the assets of Bezos and Tesla CEO Elon Musk increased by $49.3 billion and $96.8 billion, respectively.

Bloomberg analyzed that "unfavorable market conditions such as inflation and recession concerns, along with weak demand from China, a major luxury consumer market, have led to a decline in luxury stock prices, preventing LVMH's stock from recovering."

In its earnings announcement on the 10th, LVMH reported that its third-quarter revenue increased by 9% compared to the same period last year, which is about half the growth rate of 17% recorded in the previous quarter. Notably, revenue growth in Asia, excluding Japan, fell from 34% in the previous quarter to 11% in the third quarter.

The company explained that the slowdown in revenue growth was due to reduced luxury consumer spending amid an ongoing economic downturn in China following the end of zero-COVID policies. Jean-Jacques Guiony, LVMH's Chief Financial Officer (CFO), pointed out that sales in China during the extended "8-day Golden Week" holiday, which includes the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day, did not meet expectations.

The worsening earnings have also weighed on the stock price. LVMH shares, listed on the French stock exchange, have fallen 1.9% so far this year. Compared to the peak in July (EUR 892.30), the stock has plunged 25%.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.