As demand for luxury goods and beauty products declines in some regions, so does the wealth of a group of the richest people in those industries, Bloomberg writes.
The decline knocked 75-year-old Bernard Arnault, the founder of conglomerate LVMH, from the top spot on Bloomberg's index of the world's richest people. Meanwhile, cosmetics giant L'Oreal SA heiress Françoise Bettencourt Meyers lost the world's richest women crown to Alice Walton, a member of a clan that founded US retailer Walmart Inc.
The extent of the market's decline became apparent earlier this week as the reporting season kicked off amid an unfolding crisis at British luxury goods maker Burberry Group Plc and a slump in sales at Swatch Group AG.
L'Oreal, LVMH and other big billionaire-backed industry players are expected to report later this month.
Overall, the fortunes of the half-dozen billionaires who make their fortunes in high-end products are down 4% this year, or about $17 billion, after the close of regular trading on Monday. For comparison, the representatives of the rest of the ranking reported a 13% growth in their wealth, or $1.0 trillion. The last time the gap between the two groups was this wide was in May 2022.