The fabulous amount lost by the richest man on the planet

The fortune of Frenchman Bernard Arnault, the richest man on the planet, fell by $11.2 billion in a single day, amid concerns that the slowdown in the American economy will reduce demand for luxury goods, reports Bloomberg.

Arnault, the founder of the LVMH group, which offers Louis Vuitton handbags, Moet & Chandon champagne and Christian Dior dresses, among others, has seen his wealth explode this year as the share prices of European luxury companies advance.

But on Tuesday, some of those stock market gains disappeared as LVMH shares fell 5% on the Paris stock exchange, the biggest decline in 12 months, amid a general decline that wiped out about 30 billions of dollars from the market capitalization of the European luxury sector.

Even after this decrease, Bernard Arnault’s wealth stands at 191.6 billion dollars, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, while, from the beginning of the year until now, the French billionaire has increased his wealth by 29.5 billions of dollars.

After Tuesday, the difference between Bernard Arnault and the founder of Tesla Inc, Elon Musk, the second richest man in the world, was reduced to only 11.4 billion dollars.

However, Tuesday’s drop came after a long rise in the LVMH share price, which is still 23% above the level at the beginning of the year. This despite the fact that the MSCI Europe Textiles Apparel & Luxury Goods Index registered an advance of 27%.