Bernard Arnault, the founder and president of luxury table LVMH, is the world’s richest man, with a total of 196 billion euros ($211 billion), according to Forbes France, which is due to publish its full listing on Wednesday, April 5.
Arnault’s champagne and handbag fortune far exceeds that of global runners-up Elon Musk ($180 billion), Jeff Bezos ($114 billion), Larry Ellison of Oracle ($107 billion), Warren Buffett ($106 billion), and Bill Gates, with just $104 billion.
The most wealthy woman, in France and the world, is heiress Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, who counts $80.5 billion in riches.
The top local representative in the rich boy’s club is the relatively poor Xavier Niel, majority owner of Monaco Matin and Monaco Telecom, who ranks 18th in France with 6.2 billion euros.
According to Bloomberg, each of the four Pastor siblings is worth one billion dollars, but the combined value of the family’s real estate holdings is far in excess of this amount.
ORIGINAL SOURCES: Forbes France, Bloomberg. PHOTO: Xavier Niel, Reuters
