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Posted: 2022-12-15 04:44:19

He made a lot of noise on his way to the top, but now Elon Musk has fallen from the top of global rich lists, with his fortune plunging to an estimated $US174 billion ($254.6 billion).

The title now belongs to Bernard Arnault and his family, who've been in the top spot before, with an estimated $US190.9 billion. 

Who is Bernard Arnault?

The Frenchman is the co-founder, chairman and chief executive of luxury goods giant LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton. 

The 73-year-old tennis-playing and art-collecting tycoon has also bounced around the top of the Forbes and Bloomberg billionaire lists since at least 2018. 

You might not have heard of him because he appears to keep a relatively low profile. 

A white man with streaked grey hair dressed in a blue suit stands before the letters LVMH projected behind him
Mr Arnault founded LVMH in 1987 with Moët Hennessy CEO Alain Chevalier and the then-president of Louis Vuitton Henry Racamier.(AP: Thibault Camus)

He was born in the French city of Roubaix in 1949, studied engineering and took over his father's construction firm in 1971. 

Almost a decade later, he shifted his focus to real estate. 

Then, with the help of a partner of a French bank, he turned his eye to fashion, buying a bankrupt textile company named Boussac Saint-Frères, which happened to own fashion house Christian Dior. 

He hit the big time in the late 1980s. That was when he helped to found LVMH — a merger between luxury brands Louis Vuitton and Moët Hennessy.

Mr Arnault worked with Moët Hennessy CEO Alain Chevalier and president of Louis Vuitton Henry Racamier to found the company in 1987.

Two years later, Mr Arnault turned on Mr Racamier over a difference of opinion, stripping him of his power and pushing from the company board.

His wealth has grown steadily in the decades since.

The way Mr Arnault operates has earned him nicknames like "the wolf in cashmere" and the "Machiavelli of finance".

How did he get so rich? 

The names in "LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton" might sound familiar.

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