Who will be the successor of the wealthiest man in the world?

Welcome to our show. I'm Becky. We are familiar with these friends. Louis Vuitton, Dior, Sephora, and Makeup Forever all belong to the same corporation, which is managed by the wealthiest man in the world. His net worth is about $200 billion. What is Bernard Arnold going to do with his wealth? Is he going to donate to charity or give it to his children? To answer this question, let's first look at how he started. Arnold was born in 1949 in a small city in France. After graduating from the country's leading engineering school, he started working for his father's company. At the age of 29, he took control of his father's company. He had a mishap in 1981 when the French Socialist Party with tax-rich policies came to power, so he moved his family to the U.S. While he was taking a cab in New York, he asked the taxi driver, what do you know about France? The driver's response was, I can't name the president, but I heard of Dior. This experience made him understand the true power of a luxury brand for the first time. In 1984, he returned to France and bought the fashion house of Dior. That's a major brand in Europe. So how did he do it? As a real estate developer, he heard that the French government was set to choose someone to take over a famous but bankrupt company that owned Dior. Why Dior? His mother had a fascination for Dior. With $50 million of family money and $65 million in financing from an investment firm, he formed a holding company. At that time, his company was competing with other companies, and eventually his company won the bidding war. He laid off 9,000 workers in two years, after which he acquired the nickname Terminator. That's why some people say that he's a wolf in cashmere, and his fans say that he's a pawn of fashion. He also sold assets with little growth potential, keeping only Dior brand and a department store. In 1987, the company was profitable again and had earnings of over $110 million. After making billions of dollars, he started to give back to communities. For example, he promised to donate $200 million to restore the largest church in Paris after it had been on fire in 2019. This is the most significant donation that he has pledged so far. And he donated $2 million to the Red Cross in China during the pandemic. Moreover, he gave away over $5 million to Ukraine after Russia invaded his neighbor. But whatever he donated is only a fraction of his net worth. So far, we can say that he will leave most of his wealth to his family or other successors. According to therichest.com, he reportedly distributed almost 400 million worth of shares to his five children. We are talking about his story today, not to portray him as a superhero, but to inspire our viewers. Actually, he has come across many tribulations across his life. For example, more than 30 years ago, he began investing in mainland China. The first Louis Vuitton opened at a Beijing hotel in 1992. At that time, few Chinese people could afford luxury bags, and counterfeit products were rampant. Among all brands, Louis Vuitton suffered the most losses around the globe. Besides what happened in China, he also had unpleasant experiences in Europe. For instance, he has been trying to buy Gucci for more than 10 years. But he lost a deal in 2001. His company planned to take over Hermes. But the French courthouse ruled that his company had to sell its stake in the design house. He said, I will never diminish the quality of Hermes. Hermes can be an even rarer and greater quality business if they ever wanted to work with us. Aside from his career, he also had missteps in his personal life. He and his first wife divorced in 1990 after getting married for more than 10 years. His ex-wife is a French national called Anna. Everyone will experience bad days in one way or another, and that holds true for the wealthiest man as well. What really matters is how we weather the storms and regain our confidence. Thank you for watching. Please subscribe to our channel, and see you next time.