3. Bernard Arnault
- Age: 72
- Residence: Paris
- CEO and Chair: LVMH (LVMUY)
- Net Worth: $150 billion
- Christian Dior Ownership Stake: 97.5% ($133 billion)
- Other Assets: Moelis & Company equity ($23.3 billion public assets), Hermès equity ($2.23 billion public assets), Carrefour equity ($900 million public assets), and $9.48 billion in cash
The head and CEO of LVMH, the biggest manufacturer of luxury goods in the world, is French native Bernard Arnault. Some of the most well-known brands on the planet are owned by this company, including Sephora, Marc Jacobs, Hennessey, Louis Vuitton, and many more. The holding firm that owns 41.25% of LVMH, Christian Dior SE, is where the majority of his fortune truly originates. Through his family-owned holding business, Groupe Arnault SE, he holds shares in Christian Dior SE as well as an extra 6.2% in LVMH.
Engineer by training, Arnault showed his commercial acumen while working at Ferret-Savinel, the construction company his father owned and which he would eventually take over in 1971. In 1979, he changed Ferret-Savinel into Férinel Inc., a real estate business.
For another six years, Arnault served as the chairman of Férinel. In 1984, he bought and rebuilt the Financière Agache company, selling all of its properties except for Christian Dior and Le Bon Marché.
In 1987, he received an invitation to invest in LVMH; two years later, he was named the company’s largest shareholder, board chair, and CEO.
4. Bill Gates
- Age: 65
- Residence: Medina, Washington
- Cofounder: Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)
- Net Worth: $124 billion
- Microsoft Ownership Stake: 1.3% ($31.2 billion)
- Other Assets: Republic Services equity ($13.5 billion public assets), John Deere equity ($10 billion public assets), Canadian National Railway equity ($9.14 billion public assets), Ecolab equity ($6.92 billion public assets), Givaudan equity ($5.56 billion public assets), FEMSA equity ($2.42 billion public assets), Waste Management equity ($2.26 billion public assets), Berkshire Hathaway equity ($1.87 billion public assets), Diageo equity ($1.77 billion public assets), Sika AG equity ($1.5 billion public assets), Arch Capital Group equity ($1.42 billion public assets), AutoNation equity ($1.33 billion public assets), Liberty Global equity ($251 million public assets), Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas equity ($200 million public assets), Otter Tail Corporation equity ($190 million public assets), Western Asset Inflation-Linked Opportunities & Income Fund equity ($180 million public assets), Western Asset Inflation-Linked Income Fund ($69.9 million public assets), and $62.6 billion in cash
In 1975, while still a student at Harvard, Bill Gates joined his boyhood buddy Paul Allen in creating new software for the first microcomputers. After the success of this effort, Gates left Harvard in his junior year and later co-founded Microsoft with Allen.
Microsoft is not just the biggest software corporation in the world; it also manufactures its own line of personal computers, releases books through Microsoft Press, offers email services through its Exchange server, and sells video gaming consoles and related accessories. Gates was formerly in charge of designing Microsoft’s software, but in 2008 he switched to the position of chair. In 2004, he became a member of Berkshire Hathaway’s board. His resignation from both boards was effective March 13, 2020.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which he and his ex-wife, Melinda Gates, co-chair, was formed in 2000 when Gates’ two charitable organizations, the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation, were combined. He has spent billions fighting polio and malaria through the charity. In 2014, he also made a $50 million donation to the Ebola virus’s fight. The organization has already spent more than $1.8 billion by 2021 to fight the COVID-19 epidemic.
Bill Gates and Warren Buffett introduced the Giving Pledge in 2010, an initiative to get wealthy people to pledge to give the majority of their money to charitable organizations.
