In last year's unprecedented massive crisis, Bernard Arnault slapped his pants and his value doubled.
According to the latest 35th Global Billionaires List released by Forbes, Bernard Arnault, Chairman and CEO of LVMH, the world's largest luxury goods group, has a total wealth of $150 billion, doubling from $76 billion in the same period last year and ranking third on the list, only behind Amazon founder Bezos and Tesla boss Musk.
In the past year, LVMH's stock price has risen by nearly 70%, with a current market value of approximately 290.5 billion euros, reaching a historic high.
Nowadays, Bernard Arnault has a tendency to seek personal gain in the luxury fashion industry. Almost no one is worried about this, but there is nothing they can do about it. The combined market value of Kaiyun Group (with a market value of 74.5 billion euros) and Lifeng Group (with a market value of 53.3 billion euros) is also inferior to LVMH.
Sources have revealed that in January this year, Francois Henri Pinault, CEO of Gucci's parent company, Kaiyun Group, made a cash or stock acquisition offer directly to Johann Rupert, Chairman of Cartier's parent company, Lifen Group, but it was rejected. The plot of the second and third place joining forces to fight against the industry hegemony did not occur as scheduled.
On the other hand, Herm è s and the unlisted Chanel remain independent and adhere to a single brand group strategy, with no intention of dominating or participating in industry struggles. Herm è s has accumulated a stock price increase of over 60% in the past year, with a current market value of 100.6 billion euros, making it the second luxury goods group in the world to break into a club with a market value of 100 billion euros.
Opponents who are capable of restraining LVMH can only come from the outside. What's heart pounding is that this character seems to be emerging.
86 year old Giorgio Armani was shocked to reveal in a recent interview with VOGUE that he is considering giving up Armani's independent entity status. He believes that it is no longer necessary for Armani to continue as an independent company, and the company may collaborate with a mature Italian company.
Of course, conservative figures like Giorgio Armani have also proposed another plan, which is to pass most of the shares to family members and announce his niece Roberta Armani and his chief deputy Leo Del'orco as heirs.
Giorgio Armani has been almost paranoid about maintaining the independence of his company for many years. He is a supporter of independent operations and believes that economic independence is fundamental to freedom and creativity. He also persisted in selling Italian luxury goods giants such as Gucci, Fendi, and Pucci to Kaiyun Group and LVMH, to the extent that the inheritance issue of Giorgio Armani has become a topic of constant discussion in the industry.
Although Giorgio Armani did not name a partner, he also provided several important clues.
