Bernard Arnault briefly topples Jeff Bezos as world’s richest man

For the first time in six years, somebody who isn’t named Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos claimed the title of richest man on earth.

Bernard Arnault, CEO of French luxury conglomerate LVMH, briefly nabbed the top spot with a net worth of $109.6 billion, according to Forbes.

Bezos, Amazon’s chief executive, quickly reclaimed the crown later the same morning when Arnault’s net worth slipped to $109.3 billion and Bezos’ rose to $110 billion amid a modest uptick in Amazon shares.

Arnault, 70, has risen in the ranks to No. 2 after adding a staggering $34.3 billion to his net worth this year. LVMH — which agreed to acquire Tiffany last month, adding to a cache of brands that includes Louis Vuitton and Dom Perignon — has seen its stock soar close to 60 percent in 2019.

Gates, meanwhile, is still sitting comfortably in third place with a net worth of $107.8 billion.

Gates held an iron grip on the No. 1 spot from 1995 until 2008, when he lost it to Warren Buffett before recovering it a year later.

Between 2011 and 2013, Gates again played second fiddle for a second time, to Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim. He then recovered to hold the title until Bezos surpassed him in 2017.

Gates has given away more than $30 billion to charity over the past two decades, and has pledged to give away the vast majority of his fortune by the end of his life.

Meanwhile Bezos, who has been criticized for his relatively paltry philanthropic giving, has shunted most of his spare change into his space-exploration startup, Blue Origin.

Bezos’ recent drop in the rankings isn’t because of Amazon’s stock sliding — the 55-year-old would still be ranked No. 1 if he and MacKenzie Bezos hadn’t divorced.

The couple announced their split at the beginning of the year, with MacKenzie, 49, getting a quarter of their Amazon holdings. She is currently the 27th-richest person in the world, with a net worth of $34.7 billion.