2024 has been, by far, the year of Elon Musk. The richest man on the planet reaches a truly record fortune, 452 billion dollars, and who knows if he could reach the status of the world’s first billionaire in a few years. It almost doubles the second, Jeff Bezos, whose net worth is $243 billion, according to the Billionaires Index. Bloomberg. On the other hand, this year will not go down in the memory of other billionaires who have recorded large losses.
The French billionaire heads this ranking Bernard Arnaultwhich has added losses of 29.8 billion dollars in 2024. It has not been a good year for the president of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the largest luxury goods manufacturer in the world, who has seen the value of his company fall to $330 billion, when in March it stood at 461,000 million, thus reaching its second highest peak. Much of the blame comes from China, due to the collapse in its demand for Louis Vuitton bags, Dior dresses, among other luxury items.
Revenue in the first nine months of the year reached $63.36 billion, a figure that represented a 2% decline compared to the figure presented in the same period of the previous year and the worst sales figure since the second quarter of 2020. , when the worst results due to the pandemic began to be observed. Even so, the fortune of the Frenchman, who became the person with the most money in the world, remains firm with 178,000 million dollars, making him the fifth billionaire in the world.
The second big millionaire with the biggest losses of the year is Francoise Bettencourt Meyersthe heiress of the L’Òreal empire and second richest woman in the world (behind Alice Walton), who has recorded losses of 24.1 billion of dollars in 2024. Just like its colleague Arnault, L’Óreal reported disappointing sales in the latest quarter, devastated by a drop in consumer demand in China. Comparable sales in North Asia fell 6.5%, marking the fifth consecutive quarter of decline in the region, the company said in a statement.
“Some consumers abandoned us. It is up to us to recruit them, innovating more”
The company, which has a stock market value of almost $192 billion, has also noticed that generation Z in the United States has reduced its purchase of the brand’s products, a challenge that Heronimus, CEO of the firm, considers key to solving. through innovation. “Some consumers abandoned us. It is up to us to recruit them, innovating more,” he declared. All in all, Bettencourt maintains the 20th position among the great fortunes, with assets valued at 75.5 billion dollars.
The podium of the year’s losers is closed by the Mexican businessman Carlos Slim. Most of his fortune, currently at $81.8 billion, comes from several publicly traded companies, with América Móvil, the largest mobile telephone operator in Latin America, being his most valuable asset, followed by his stakes in the Grupo Carso holding company. and in the banking and insurance firm Grupo Financiero Inbursa. It also has stakes in more than half a dozen other companies, many of which pay dividends.
In the accumulated of the year, Slim registers losses of 23.5 billion of dollars. Fluctuation in global markets, economic uncertainties and adjustments in key sectors in which Slim has a large stake, such as telecommunications and infrastructure, could have influenced the loss in value.
In fourth place appears Colin Huang, the founder of the emerging Chinese e-commerce firm Pinduoduo, operator of the Temu platform. The former richest Chinese in the world has seen his fortune plummet since August, when he reached a wealth of $48.7 billion. Since then, the company’s shares have fallen nearly 30% following disappointing second-quarter revenue. So far this year his assets have decreased 17.2 billion of dollars and his current fortune reaches 34.3 billion.
Finally, another billionaire who has been swept away by China has been François Pinaultfounder of Kering, a luxury goods design and manufacturing company that has Gucci, Yves St. Laurent and Balenciaga as its most representative brands. The fall in the French businessman’s assets is due to a 12% drop in Kering until September, as a result of results marked by the fall of Gucci and weighed down by the Asian market. With this, Pinault has lost a whopping 13.7 billion dollarshis fortune currently being 21.7 billion.
The big losers of 2024:
1. Bernard Arnault: 29.8 billion
2. Françoise Bettencourt: 24.1 billion
3. Carlos Slim: 23.5 billion
4. Colin Huang: 17.2 billion
5. François Pinault: 13.7 billion
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