By
AFP
Published
July 8, 2026
Bernard Arnault and his family, who control the luxury-goods giant LVMH, have reclaimed top spot in Challenges magazine’s annual ranking of France’s biggest business fortunes, published on Wednesday- a position they ceded last year to the Hermès heirs.
Once the world’s richest person- now far behind Elon Musk- he and his family have an estimated fortune of 121.2 billion euros. In early 2025, Hermès, which had better withstood the slowdown in the global luxury market, briefly became France’s largest company by market capitalisation, overtaking LVMH.
LVMH’s share price has since rebounded. The luxury group, of which the Arnault family owns more than half, is once again worth around 250 billion euros on the stock market. The Hermès heirs have therefore slipped to second place in Challenges’ ranking of France’s biggest business fortunes, with an estimated fortune of 114 billion euros.
The magazine counted 153 billionaire families in France this year, eight more than in 2025. According to Challenges, the combined wealth of France’s 500 largest fortunes is 1,076 billion euros this year, down from 1,129 billion euros in 2025.
The Challenges ranking is based on company shareholdings and equity stakes, the value of which is either taken from market prices or estimated for unlisted securities. This ranking does not take personal assets, such as property, into account.
The rest of the list has changed little: brothers Alain and Gérard Wertheimer of Chanel hold on to third place at 95 billion euros, ahead of L’Oréal’s Françoise Bettencourt Meyers at 69.7 billion euros.
Rodolphe Saadé, owner of the shipping group CMA CGM, whose profitability has been hit by the conflict in the Middle East, has a business fortune estimated at 31.5 billion euros, down from 35 billion euros in 2025.
Next come Xavier Niel of Free at 30.1 billion euros, the Dassault family at 27.7 billion euros, Gérard Mulliez with Auchan and Decathlon at 27 billion euros, François Pinault of Kering at 19.2 billion euros, and Emmanuel Besnier with Lactalis at 14.2 billion euros.
At the end of 2025, Bernard Arnault became the sole owner of Challenges after buying Claude Perdriel’s stake (the 282nd-richest person in France). This change of ownership prompted the departure of journalists.
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