The world's richest man lost more than $11 billion in a day

LVMH boss Bernard Arnault's fortune has fallen as LVMH shares have been sold off amid fears of falling demand for luxury goods.

At the close of trading on May 23, LVMH shares fell 5%, the most in a year. This reduced the assets of LVMH owner Bernard Arnault to only 191.6 billion USD, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Still, for the year as a whole, he added $29.5 billion to his fortune. The gap between Arnault and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the world’s second-richest person, is now just $11.4 billion.

Bernard Arnault at an event in Paris in 2017. Photo: Reuters

LVMH shares are up 23% year-to-date, while the MSCI Europe Textiles Apparel & Luxury Goods Index is up 27%. LVMH’s market capitalization hit $500 billion last week, becoming the first European company to do so, thanks to expectations of a surge in demand from China after the country abandoned its Zero Covid policy.

However, yesterday's session saw European luxury stocks sold off heavily due to concerns about weakening demand as the US economy struggles. In total, the companies' capitalizations lost $30 billion.

Asia and the US are now important markets for the European luxury industry. According to LVMH's report last year, Asia (excluding Japan) contributed 30% of the company's revenue, compared to 27% for the US.

Edouard Aubin, an analyst at Morgan Stanley, said attendees at the bank’s luxury conference in Paris warned that U.S. business was “relatively weak.” Deutsche Bank analysts also said investors would be more cautious about European luxury stocks, given concerns about growth in the world’s largest economy.

LVMH said it had seen slowing growth in the US market. British fashion house Burberry also reported weaker demand for shoes and other products aimed at young Americans.

Ha Thu (according to Bloomberg)

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