LVMH chief Bernard Arnault beats Musk, Bezos to become world's richest

French businessman Bernard Arnault, the CEO and Chairman of LVMH, has made history by becoming only the third person to achieve a net worth above $200 billion. 

Arnault's fortune increased by $2.4 billion on Tuesday to reach the historic milestone, thanks to the record-high performance of shares in LVMH, the world's largest luxury goods company.

The other two people who have achieved such great wealth are Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, and Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla. However, both their fortunes fell back after technology companies' share prices dropped.

Arnault's fortune has increased by $39 billion this year alone, as demand for luxury goods among the world's wealthiest has soared. This surge has caused shares in LVMH to rise 30 per cent, giving Arnault a $25 billion lead over Musk.

LVMH owns luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and Moët & Chandon champagne. Its shares have increased by over 150 per cent in the past three years, reaching a new high of €853 on Wednesday morning.

Arnault, who is 74 years old, co-founded LVMH 35 years ago and is its majority shareholder. He has recently appointed his children to key roles within the business. Delphine, his eldest child, was named the head of Christian Dior in January, while Antoine was promoted to run the holding company that controls LVMH and the Arnault family fortune.

Arnault's three younger children also have prominent positions within LVMH. Alexandre is an executive at Tiffany, Frédéric is the chief executive of TAG Heuer, while Jean heads marketing and product development for Louis Vuitton's watches division.

LVMH's announcement last month that it would buy back as much as €1.5 billion (£1.3 billion) of its own shares further increased the company's record stock price. The company achieved record sales of €79.2 billion last year, with revenue surpassing €20 billion at Louis Vuitton. In February, the fashion house appointed musician-turned-entrepreneur Pharrell Williams as its new menswear designer.