Top ​3 richest people on the planet

Top ​3 richest people on the planet

1. Jeff Bezos: $ 190.8 billion

Amazon-CEO Jeff Bezos. - EPA
Very young, Jeff Bezos and his mother are abandoned by his father. She then married a certain Miguel Bezos, a Cuban immigrant who gave his name to Jeff. Graduating in 1986 from the prestigious Princeton University, he gradually took an interest in what has obsessed him for years: "I have learned that web use is increasing by 2,300% per year. I had never seen or heard of something with such rapid growth, and the idea of creating an online bookstore with millions of titles - something purely inconceivable in the physical world.

2. Elon Musk: $ 177.2 billion
MuskElon Musk - Isopix
Boosted by an exceptional 2020, Elon Musk sees his fortune continue to swell week after week. The owner of Tesla and SpaceX is now just a stone's throw from Jeff Bezos, whom he has already passed based on the ups and downs of his businesses.

Already asked about the unstoppable expansion of his fortune, Musk has repeatedly indicated that he attaches little importance to material things. Apart from his stakes in Tesla and SpaceX, he owns very few other assets. Its main objective is to bring human civilization to Mars and establish a city there. And "that involves a lot of money," he explains.

Sales of the Tesla group, however, remain far from traditional manufacturers: the manufacturer of electric cars only sold 499,550 cars in 2020, far from Volkswagen, for example, and its 11 million vehicles sold in 2019.

3. Bernard Arnault: $ 155.1 billion
Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH. EPA
Bernard Arnault is the richest European in the world. Born in Roubaix, France in 1949, he is the owner of the luxury group LVMH. This brand merges the two groups Moët Hennessy (Champagnes Moët & Chandon, Ruinart, Mercier, Canard-Duchêne and cognac Hennessy) and Louis Vuitton (Louis Vuitton, Givenvhy, Champagne Veuve Clicquot) which it acquired in 1987 following the crash of 'October.

Three years earlier, the man who had taken over the family business from his father bought the Christian Dior brand. The operation is valued at 90 million French francs or 14 million euros, or the entire family fortune at the time.

Little by little, the LVMH group has become the leading luxury group in the world. Bernard Arnault, who makes acquisition after acquisition, multiplies the value of the group by 15, while turnover has increased by 500%. He owes his success to his way of managing the multinational: he leaves a great deal of decision-making power to the brands of the group, which are often considered as houses with a family history. Then, the strongest brands of the group make it possible to finance those which are emerging or growing. This solidarity between brands allows for a harmonious whole.

The 90s and 2000s will take the same path: Arnault acquires, through his group, the clothing brands Kenzo and Berluti, but also the dailies La Tribune, then later the group Les Echos or even Le Parisien. We can also mention some great wines (Cheval Blanc, Clos des Lambrays…) or the Guerlain perfume and Bvlgari jewelry. Bernard Arnault is not just a billionaire. He is considered one of the best business leaders in the world. It is also regularly listed in the Harvard Business Review.

However, several controversies litter his career. First when he applied for Belgian nationality in 2012. The newspaper Liberation does not hesitate to headline in "one": "Casse-toi rich con! "In reference to" Casse-toi poor con "by Nicolas Sarkozy. Looking back, it turns out that this request had nothing to do with any way of limiting inheritance taxes, which are slightly lower in Belgium. No, it is more a question of avoiding the dislocation of the group in the event of death. In 2013, almost all of the group's assets were transferred to Belgium under the “Protectinvest” foundation. The daily Liberation is punished: no more advertising for the group will appear until the end of the year: the loss is estimated at 150,000 euros.