- China's new stimulus measures helped boost Bernard Arnault's net worth by $6.2 billion in a day.
- China's central bank announced interest rate cuts and liquidity support to aid its struggling economy.
- LVMH shares surged 4% on the news. Consumers in China represent about 20% of its global sales.
A slate of new stimulus measures from China has made the fifth-richest person in the world the fourth-richest this week.
Bernard Arnault, the chairman of LVMH, saw his net worth soar $6.2 billion on Tuesday, according to data from Bloomberg, as shares of the luxury goods maker surged 4%.
Arnault owns about half of LVMH, the luxury conglomerate whose portfolio includes brands like Louis Vuitton, Dior, Tiffany & Co., and TAG Heuer.
At one point in March, Arnault was the richest person in the world, but since the start of the year, he slipped in the net worth rankings as LVMH stock struggled and a huge mega-cap tech rally boosted the net worth of tech CEOs.
The latest gains for LVMH came after China's central bank to big steps to support its struggling economy, announcing interest rate cuts, liquidity support, and reduced bank reserve requirements.
People's Bank of China governor Pan Gongsheng said authorities are also looking into a stock stabilization fund, as the country's stock market, as measured by the SSE Composite Index, is trading at the same level as it was in 2007.
China's economy has experienced a wobbly recovery since the COVID-19 pandemic.
High unemployment rates among its youth, US tariffs, lingering demographic issues, and falling real estate values have prevented the country from staging a full economic rebound.
That's bad news for luxury goods makers who have increasingly relied on China's consumers to grow sales.
Over the years, as the country's middle and upper-middle classes have grown, consumers in China have increasingly represented a sizable chunk of LVMH's business.
About 20% of LVMH's global sales come from the region. That's part of the reason why the stock has done poorly this year, with shares down 14% year-to-date.
But after the economic stimulus measures were announced on Tuesday, shares of various luxury brand makers surged.
Arnault's net worth now stands at $183 billion, just ahead of Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison's $179 billion and behind the $200+ billion fortunes of Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk.
