Bernard Arnault entered Thursday having lost more wealth this year than any other billionaire, with his luxury-goods fortune slumping by $24 billion.
Then Chinaâs top leaders gave the green light to supercharge stimulus in the worldâs second-largest economy. And with that, the French tycoonâs wealth has been given new life.
Arnaultâs net worth soared Thursday by $17 billion to $201 billion, his third-largest one-day increase ever, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Shares of his LVMH jumped by 9.9 percent on bets that stimulus measures from Chinaâs Politburo would revive the nationâs appetite for luxury goods.
Arnault, 75, now ranks as the worldâs fourth-richest person, with his fortune almost entirely tied to his 48 percent stake in LVMH, according to Bloombergâs wealth index. Shares of the worldâs largest luxury-goods maker by market value have dropped 7.5 percent since the start of the year, as lacklustre China demand and reluctant spending from consumers hurt LVMHâs earnings.
But the message on Thursday from Chinese officials indicates efforts to revive growth and pledges to support fiscal spending and stabilize the beleaguered property sector, giving some positive momentum to the nationâs weak consumer outlook.
Asia accounted for 38 percent of LVMHâs sales in 2023, and China is a large slice of that pie.
Arnault isnât the only billionaire beneficiary of Chinaâs stimulus. PDD Holdings Inc. founder Colin Huang, who lost his title as Chinaâs richest person last month after the company forecast tepid sales growth, added $5 billion on Thursday as shares of his e-commerce company surged 14 percent.
This article was written by Diana Li from Bloomberg and was legally licensed through the DiveMarketplace by Industry Dive.
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