$470 billion in one photo: The world’s two richest people dine in Paris

Billionaires

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Elon Musk and Bernard Arnault, the two richest people in the world, shared lunch in Paris on Friday, meeting at a luxury hotel with close family members ahead of a technology conference hosted by an Arnault-owned company where Musk is speaking.
Key Takeaways
  • Arnault, the 74-year-old luxury goods executive with a family fortune worth an estimated $233 billion, told French news program Quotidien he was meeting the Tesla CEO, worth $237 billion, for lunch because “I know him [and] I think he is an exceptional entrepreneur.”
  • The two dined at Cheval Blanc, the luxury hotel chain that’s owned by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the luxury goods conglomerate founded by Arnault in 1987, according to Bloomberg.
  • The LVMH CEO also brought along his sons, Antoine and Alexandre Arnault, 46 and 31, respectively, while Musk was accompanied by his mother, Maye, an Instagram post from Antoine showed.
  • It was unclear what the group ate during the meal.
US$470 billion in one photo. Image: Instagram
Key Background

The nature of Musk and Arnault’s discussion over lunch was not made public but could have included talk about Arnault’s involvement with social media and advertising.

Twitter has struggled with decreasing advertising revenue since he bought it in October, but Musk has just handed over the reins, heralding a potential new era for the platform.

After his lunch with Arnault, Musk is also scheduled to speak at a Viva Technology event, which is hosted by advertising companies Publicis Groupe SA and Les Echos, owned by Arnault’s LVMH. Arnault’s holding company, Agache, backs a venture capital firm with investments in TikTok parent company ByteDance.

The LVMH CEO also brought along his sons, Antoine and Alexandre Arnault, 46 and 31, respectively, while Musk was accompanied by his mother, Maye, an Instagram post from Antoine showed. Image: Instagram / Antoine Arnault
Tangent

Musk is in France this week to meet with President Emmanuel Macron to discuss building a Tesla factory in the country.

Macron posted a photo of the two men smiling on his Twitter Friday morning with the caption: “Let’s work together! #ChooseFrance.”

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Forbes Valuation

Together, the two men share a total value of roughly US$470 billion. Musk rose back up to his ranking as the wealthiest person in the world earlier this month as Tesla shares have been on an upward trajectory.

The vast majority of Arnault’s fortune comes from his ownership of LVMH, which encompasses more than 70 luxury brands like Fendi, Givenchy and Tiffany & Co.

This article was first published on forbes.com and all figures are in USD.

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