LVMH, the French luxury goods group behind Louis Vuitton and, has become the first European company to hit a $500bn market value thanks to booming demand among the rich for its high-end brands.
Shares in LVMH closed up 90 euro cents to €902.00 on Monday giving the company – whose roster includes Christian Dior, Stella McCartney, TAG Heuer watches and Bulgari and Tiffany jewellery – a market capitalisation of €454bn, or half a trillion dollars. LVMH shares have soared by 30% so far this year propelling it into the top 10 of the world’s most valuable listed companies.cementing his position as the world’s richest personEarlier this month LVMH reported a 17% increase in first quarter sales, more than double analyst expectations. Last year it achieved record sales of €79.2bn and has begun a €1.5bn share buyback programme.in first quarter sales earlier this month.
, the second-biggest brand in the empire. Her brother Antoine was promoted to run the holding company that controls LVMH and the Arnault family fortune.His three younger children also have important jobs within the company. Alexandre Arnault is an executive at Tiffany, Frédéric Arnault is the chief executive of TAG Heuer, while their youngest sibling, Jean Arnault, heads marketing and product development for Louis Vuitton’s watches division.