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Bernard Arnault, the founding president of LVMH, and Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, the heiress of L’Oréal, have reached this first place.
A 2023 vintage “historical” for France. Two French people, Bernard Arnault, the president and founder of LVMH, and Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, the heiress of L’Oréal, are, with their family, the richest man and woman in the world, according to the annual ranking of billionaires 2023 directed by the American magazine Forbes and published on Tuesday. It is “the first time in the history of the ranking“, underline Forbes France in his press release.
With a fortune estimated at 211 billion dollars (196 billion euros) as of March 11, 2023, the tricolor emperor of luxury and his family outclass the competition. The one who in December 2022 became the world’s largest fortune ahead of Elon Musk is well ahead of the boss of Tesla and SpaceX ($ 180 billion). Behind them are Jeff Bezos (114 billion), Larry Ellison, co-founder of software publisher Oracle (107 billion) and businessman Warren Buffett (106 billion).
The world top 10 is completed by Bill Gates (104 billion), former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg (94.5 billion), Mexican telecom magnate Carlos Slim (93 billion), Indian businessman Mukesh Ambani (83.4 billion) and the ex-CEO of Microsoft Steve Ballmer (80.7 billion).
Françoise Bettencourt Meyers and her family, France’s second fortune, come in eleventh position worldwide, with 80.5 billion dollars. The granddaughter of the founder of L’Oréal is for the third consecutive year the richest woman in the world. She had also been in 2019, succeeding her mother Liliane Bettencourt, the first woman in the ranking in 2016 and 2017.
Read alsoThe soaring fortune of tech billionaires
Only seven women in the French ranking
In France, the top 5 is monopolized by representatives of the luxury and cosmetics sectors. Behind the two indestructible, we indeed find François Pinault, founder of Kering (3rd), with 37.2 billion euros, and Alain (4th, 29.4 billion euros) and Gérard Wertheimer (5th, 29.4 billion euros), both owners of Chanel SA.
We have to wait for sixth position to find a French billionaire from another sector, in the person of Emmanuel Besnier, the boss of Lactalis (20.4 billion euros). The top 10 is completed by Nicolas Puech, heir to Hermès (9.1 billion euros), as well as Rodolphe Saadé, CEO of CMA CGM, and his family (9.1 billion euros). Vincent Bolloré, the strong man of Vivendi (8.8 billion euros), is on the steps of the top 10, in 11th position.
In the rest of the ranking, among the names known to the general public, we can mention the two rivals in mobile telephony, Xavier Niel (18th, 6.2 billion euros) and Patrick Drahi (22nd, 4 billion euros) , both down. “For the rest, it would seem that the Covid effect which had boosted health-related companies has subsided. “, notes the magazine Forbes France, on newsstands Wednesday. Nevertheless, Stéphane Bancel, the French managing director of the American biotech Moderna, which was one of the first to develop a vaccine against Covid-19, settles in the ranking, in 21st place, with a fortune estimated at 4.1 billion euros.
The 2023 French ranking also remains very masculine. Of the 43 billionaires listed, only seven are women, most of them heiresses. Apart from Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, we find for example Carrie Perrodo, widow of the founder of the oil group Perenco (12th), Marie Besnier Beauvalot, heiress of Lactalis (17th), or Danielle Bellon, at the head with her children of the holding Bellon SA (Sodexo), in 24th position.
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