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Adam Tooze: How Macron’s Ally Became the Richest Man in the World

Bernard Arnault is the king of luxury commerce and a fixture in French politics and culture.

By , a deputy editor at Foreign Policy.
Bernard Arnault, chief executive of Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, speaks during a visit to the new Louis Vuitton factory in Alvarado, Texas.
Bernard Arnault, chief executive of Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, speaks during a visit to the new Louis Vuitton factory in Alvarado, Texas.
Bernard Arnault, chief executive of Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, speaks during a visit to the new Louis Vuitton factory in Alvarado, Texas, on Oct. 17, 2019. NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images

The richest person in the world, as of December 2022, is the French billionaire Bernard Arnault, whose fortune now amounts to some $220 billion. People outside of his home country may be less familiar with him than tech billionaires such as Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, but they’re likely to recognize the products that made him so wealthy: luxury brands ranging from Christian Dior and Louis Vuitton fashion to Hennessy liquor. In any case, Arnault has long been a fixture in French high society and politics.

Cameron Abadi is a deputy editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @CameronAbadi

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