2023-07-05 12:43:57
This is unheard of. The accumulated professional assets of the 500 largest fortunes in France reached a record estimate of 1,170 billion euros this year, or 45% of GDP. An increase of almost 17% in one year, according to the ranking of the economic magazine Challenges published this Wednesday.
Their overall fortune is climbing to unprecedented heights, at 1,170 billion euros, “relegating far behind last year’s record of 1,002 billion”, notes Challenges. “In 2009, this amount was only 194 billion, representing 10% of the then GDP; today it is 45% “of the production of annual wealth on French soil, also writes the magazine.
Almost all of this increase is attributable to the growth of almost 150 billion euros in the wealth of the pillars of French luxury, at the top of the list.
Bernard Arnault at the top of the ranking
With a fortune that has increased by more than 50 billion, Bernard Arnault, boss of the world number one in luxury LVMH (owner of the Les Echos-Le Parisien group) remains the richest in France. For the first time, it exceeds 200 billion. He has dominated the ranking since 2017, with a family fortune estimated at 203 billion euros this year, against 149 billion in 2022, estimates Challenges.
He who is also the richest man in the world, according to Forbes magazine, is followed by the families Hermès (138 billion euros), Wertheimer (Chanel, 100 billion) and that of Françoise Bettencourt Meyers (L’Oréal, 77 billion), the only woman appearing in the Top 10. In addition to the luxury sector, growth is driven by acquisitions in the French vineyards, in particular those of the Pinault family (Kering, 31 billion euros) which has invested in the Champagne.
141 billionaires are now listed, compared to 55 in 2013. Over the same period, the threshold to enter this club of 500 rose from 65 to 235 million euros.
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