French billionaire Bernard Arnault’s net worth rose by more than $19 billion on Wednesday as shares of his luxury goods conglomerate LVMH surged more than 14% after posting a growth in sales in its quarterly earnings report for the first time this year, driven by increased Chinese demand.
LVMH Moet Hennessy Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bernard Arnault’s net worth surged to $181.8 billion.
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Key Facts
- In early afternoon trading, LVMH’s Paris-listed shares rose more than 14.36% to €609.20 ($708.14).
- According to CNBC, LVMH is on track to post its best single-day performance in more than two decades.
- LVMH sales in the third quarter of 2025 rose 1% year-over-year to €18.28 billion ($21.25 billion), beating out analyst estimates, the company said in its earnings report.
- The company’s “selective retailing” unit posted the strongest growth performance, rising 7%, as the LVMH-owned beauty retailer Sephora saw “sustained growth in revenue.”
- The luxury conglomerate’s Wines & Spirits, Perfumes & Cosmetics and Watches & Jewelry reported year-on-year growth of 1%, 2% and 2%, respectively.
Forbes Valuation
According to our estimates, Arnault’s net worth stands at $181.8 billion on Wednesday morning, up more than $19.3 billion in the past 24 hours. This places the CEO and chairman of LVMH seventh on Forbes’ Real Time Billionaires list of the world’s wealthiest people, higher than any other non-American billionaires.
Big Number
€304.89 billion. That is LVMH’s market cap following Wednesday’s stock surge. This makes it Europe’s second most valuable company and the world’s most valuable luxury brand, ahead of rival Hermès.
What Did The Company Say In Its Earnings Call?
In the press release accompanying the earnings results, earnings in Europe and the U.S. remained stable compared to last year, while Japan was down. LVMH sales in the rest of Asia, which Reuters notes is primarily dominated by China, “saw a noticeable improvement.” In its earnings call, LVMH CFO added: “Mainland China turned positive in Q3.”
This article was originally published on forbes.com and all figures are in USD.
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