French Billionaires Take Biggest Hit Ever on Luxury Goods Slump
- LVMH, L’Oreal and Kering titans lose a combined $70 billion
- Some glimmers of hope are emerging that worst might be over
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For France’s biggest billionaires, 2024 was a year to forget as their combined fortunes slumped by a record amount on weak luxury-good demand and political instability.
Bernard Arnault, Françoise Bettencourt Meyers and François Pinault, among the world’s richest, saw about $70 billion erased from their collective wealth this year, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The industry giants they control — LVMH, L’Oréal SA and Kering SA — are some of the biggest losers on the French stock exchange, with the Gucci owner shedding 41% of its value.