French billionaires Bernard Arnault, Françoise Bethancourt Mayers, and François Pinot lost $58 billion this year due to a decline in demand for LVMH, L’Oreal SA, and Kering SA products, especially in China, according to Bloomberg.
The fortune of 88-year-old Pinault, who founded Kering, fell by 63% to $22 billion. This is mainly due to the problems with his largest fashion label, Gucci. The elder Pinault handed over control of the company to his son, 62-year-old François-Henri Pinault, almost two decades ago. Despite promises to return Gucci’s position in the market this week, for the third time in 2024, it was again announced that sales had declined.
According to Bloomberg, since the beginning of the year, Arnault’s fortune has decreased by about $26 billion, the largest among the 500 wealthiest people in the world. He dropped to fifth in the index from first place as shares of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, which Arnault, 75, founded and still controls, fell 30% from their mid-2023 high.
The results of the cosmetics giant L’Oreal were disappointing: this year, Bethancourt Meyers lost $19 billion, and her fortune dropped to $81 billion. The 71-year-old heiress was the richest woman in the world for many years. Now, Alice Walton occupies this position.
L’Oreal explains the decline by the worse-than-expected situation in North Asia and China, where markets have become even more critical, especially in the luxury sector. Despite the decline, the company’s business remained “quite good” in Europe, North America, and emerging markets.
