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LVMH unscrews on the stock market, melting the fortune of Bernard Arnault by 12.3 billion in one day. Hermès takes the opportunity to delight first place.
Spectacular fall for Bernard Arnault, French luxury magnate and owner of the LVMH giant: 12.3 billion dollars flew to his personal fortune in one day on the Paris Stock Exchange on Tuesday, April 15.
This spectacular reversal in 24 hours intervened after the fall in the course of the LVMH action (-7.82 % on the session), sanctioned by the market after the publication of its sales for the first quarter, deemed disappointing by analysts.
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A year 2024 braked by low demand in China
This colossal loss now relegates Bernard Arnault to 7ᵉ place in the world’s largest fortunes classification, according to the Bloomberg index. Barely a year ago, the boss ran out of more than $ 230 billion in heritage. He now only “has” only 151 billion.
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After a year 2024 hampered by low demand in China, one of its main markets, the luxury group faces geopolitical uncertainties, especially in the United States, where it is confronted with “a slight decrease” of its turnover, depending on the company, and an increase in customs duties. Since the beginning of January, the LVMH title has dropped by more than 23 %. The figures published Monday “confirmed a difficult start for 2025”, note Jefferies analysts.
LVMH now dethroned by Hermès
The French luxury group Hermès dethroned its rival Tuesday, April 15, the French luxury giant LVMH, becoming the first market capitalization at the closing of the CAC 40, but also the most valued luxury company in the world. The valuation of Hermès on the stock market reached 248.60 billion euros, against 244.39 billion euros for the world number one LVMH luxury, according to AFP calculations.
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Hermès resisted the slowdown in global demand for luxury products than its competitors. A salvation that the brand owes to “its ultra luxury ‘positioning, with items purchased by an ultra -rich clientele”, compared to “luxury positioning only on the side of LVMH”, explains Andréa Tuéni, manager of markets for Saxo Banque France.
