Topline
The fortune of Bernard Arnault—Europe’s richest person—shrank by $12.5 billion on Tuesday after a threat by President Donald Trump to impose 200% tariffs on French wines and champagnes tanked the shares of his luxury goods conglomerate LVMH.
Bernard Arnault listens as President Donald Trump speaks before Steve Witkoff is sworn as special envoy during a ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House.
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Key Facts
Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy’s Paris-listed shares fell more than 3% to €565.10 ($663) on Tuesday, after Trump issued the threat on Monday night.
LVMH owns several key French luxury liquor brands like Moët & Chandon, Dom Pérignon, Château Cheval Blanc, Veuve Clicquot, Ruinart and Château d’Yquem.
Trump floated the tariff threat Monday night when reporters in Miami asked him about French President Emmanuel Macron’s reported unwillingness to join his Gaza Board of Peace.
At first, Trump said “nobody wants him” on the board, but then added: “I’ll put a 200% tariff on his wines and champagnes and he’ll join.”
The threat comes just days after the president announced he would impose a sweeping 10% tariff on imports from eight European countries over their refusal to back his push to take control of Greenland.
Forbes Valuation
According to Forbes’ estimates, Bernard Arnault’s net worth is $169.8 billion, making him the world’s 7th-richest person in the world on the Real Time Billionaires list. While the LVMH chair and CEO remains the richest person in Europe by a large margin, his fortune has fallen by more than $12.5 billion in the past 24 hours. On the global list, Arnault’s net worth is still more than $8 billion higher than eighth ranked Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia. However, it appears unlikely that Huang will be able to overtake Arnault on Tuesday, as Nvidia’s shares are also down 2.44% in premarket amid a wider slump in U.S. stock futures.
Further Reading
U.S. Futures Nosedive Amid Trump’s Tariff Threats Over Greenland (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2026/01/20/bernard-arnaults-fortune-drops-by-125-billion-after-trumps-200-tariff-threat-against-french-wines/
