For the first time in the seven-year history of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Microsoft Co-founder, Bill Gates is not among the top two as he has
For the first time in the seven-year history of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Microsoft Co-founder, Bill Gates is not among the top two as he has been overtaken by Bernard Arnault. Ranked third with a net worth of $107 billion, Gates was overtaken by Arnault who is the Chairman and CEO of the world’s largest maker of luxury goods, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton and whose net worth stands at $108 billion. Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos still ranks first with a net worth of $124 billion. In 2018, Bezos’ net worth touched $151 billion on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Bernard Arnault entered the luxury goods market in 1984. The 70-year-old French investor and business tycoon controls about half of LVMH, which had a revenue of 46.8 billion euros in 2018, as per Christian Dior’s financial release in 2018. The company sells products including Louis Vuitton leather goods, TAG Heuer watches and Dom Perignon champagne. Bernard Arnault also controls an 8.6 percent stake in Hermes and 1.9 percent of Carrefour, according to Bloomberg.
At fourth place on the Bloomberg Billionaire Index is Warren Buffet, Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, with a net worth of $81.9 billion. The Omaha, Nebraska-based company owns Geico, Clayton Homes and Dairy Queen, and has stakes in Coca-Cola and American Express. Next on the list is Mark Zuckerberg, Co-founder and CEO of social media giant Facebook with a net worth of $78.7 billion. According to an April 2019 stock exchange filing, a majority of Zuckerberg’s fortune is derived from a 13 percent stake in Facebook.
At sixth place is Amancio Ortega with a net worth of $66.2 billion, who owns 59 percent of Inditex, the world’s largest clothing retailer. Ranking 14th on the Index and highest among Indians is Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) with a net worth of $51.3 billion. In 2016, he joined hands with Jeff Bezos, Jack Ma and Bill Gates, among others, to set up Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV), a $1 billion fund to fight climate change through innovations in clean energy.
