Louis Vuitton's Bernard Arnault is now world's richest person as Jeff Bezos slips

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has slipped to the second position on Forbes real-time billionaires list even as the e-commerce giant thrived during the Covid-19 pandemic.

French businessman and investor Bernard Arnault has unseated Amazon founder Jeff Bezos as the world’s richest person, according to Forbes real-time billionaires list. Arnault, chairman and chief executive of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, has a net worth of $198.9 billion at the moment as per the dynamic list which may change anytime.

Head of French multinational corporation LVMH Bernard Arnault.(AFP)

Arnault’s net worth took a giant leap after LVMH completed a deal with American jeweller Tiffany & Co in January 2021 for $15.8 billion, which is believed to be the biggest luxury brand acquisition ever. In 2019, LVMH completed the acquisition of luxury hospitality group Belmond, which owns or manages 46 luxury hotels, restaurants, trains and river cruises.

The 72-year-old chairman of the world's largest luxury goods company was on the third position on Forbes’ Billionaires 2021 list. He now oversees an empire of 70 brands, including Louis Vuitton and Sephora. Arnault has five children and four of them - Frédéric, Delphine, Antoine and Alexandre - work in corners of the LVMH empire, per Forbes.

Bezos has slipped to the second position on Forbes real-time billionaires list even as the e-commerce giant, Amazon, thrived during the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic. Amazon’s revenue grew by 38% in 2020 to $386 billion as the company saw a spike in online purchases from people staying at home due to Covid-19 restrictions. Bezos recently went to space on his space company’s Blue Origin’s suborbital flight.