The effects of the pandemic continue to manifest themselves. The virus shakes not only the markets, but also the wallets of billionaires, who have seen billions of dollars vanish in a very short time. And if before the crisis, the world of high fashion and luxury had begun to quickly climb the ranks of the richest, the collapse of the financial markets has changed the cards on the table, bringing the big names in high tech back to the top.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the 500 richest people in the world lost $238,5 billion last week following a global stock market crash on March 12, known as Black Thursday – the worst session since the 1987 stock market crash – triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic.
In this panorama, Arnault's Lvmh and its haute couture colleagues are the ones most affected by the Coronavirus crisis. Thanks to the Forbes billionaires ranking, updated in real time, it is possible to quantify the losses suffered by some of the wealthiest and most well-known personalities in the world. The value of holdings in companies is updated every 5 minutes when their respective stock markets are open, while billionaires whose fortunes are tied to private companies are updated once a day. Now let's see how the ranking has changed.
Climb from first place in third position il luxury goods magnate Lvmh, Bernard Arnault, who until just two months ago, was the richest person in the world (albeit for a short time) with a fortune worth more than $100 billion. Thus Bernard Arnault, since the outbreak of the crisis, has lost over 35 billion dollars (rising to 79,2 billion), the effect of the collapse of the shares of his Lvmh by over 30%.
An achievement that places him next Bezos (Amazon) and Gates (Microsoft), with net assets of $111,7 billion and $100,4 billion, respectively, and with Warren Buffet, the oracle of Omaha, very close (with 73,7 billion). Not better for Amancio Ortega of Zara, dropped to sixth place with assets of 56,4 billion.
Heavy losses also for the Meyers & Family family which rank 15th with 49,2 billion, suffering a drop of 21%. No less fortunate fate for Francois Pinault & Family who drops to 26th place with 28,2 billion (-38%), overtaken by the Knight family (Nike) with 30,1 billion dollars.
On the other hand, assets founded on private companies are less sensitive to real-time counting, as they are the only ones not subject to the price trend on the stock market. As for the Wertheimer brothers (Chanel), who rank 42nd with assets of 18 billion each. But also former presidential candidate, Michael Bloomberg, with a wealth of $45,1 billion.
As for the big Italians, first of all is Leonardo DelVecchio, dropped from 25th to 69th place with 15,1 billion. However, the only Italian to configure in the top 100.
