Bernard Arnault is no longer the richest man in France, French heirs of luxury whose house has legendary models are now in the lead!

This characteristic, Bernard Arnault, boss of LVMH, never found him very rewarding, in his words. When a few years ago, the one who is at the head of the largest luxury conglomerate in the world was questioned by Léa Salamé for amazing! On his status as a second richest man in the world – he was then just behind Liliane Bettencourt, founder of L’Oréal -, Bernard Arnault recognized the little consideration he had for such a status. At 76, he is the father of five – from two marriages – Delphine, Antoine, Alexandre, Frédéric and Jean – who all work within LVMH, and at the head ofA fortune estimated at 192 billion dollars. Not the first fan of this type of ranking, the big industrialist, a native of Roubaix, now leaves his place as the richest man in France to another well -known industrialist in the luxury sphere. Draft at the prize list of the 500 largest fortunes in France established by the magazine Challengesin newsstands Thursday, July 10, the founder of the LVMH group, thus gave his first place to the Hermès family and to the hundred descendants of Thierry Hermès (1801-1878), founder of the luxury group.

Since 2017, Bernard Arnault and his family occupied the first row of this ranking. This time, the Hermès take the lead. The fortune of The Hermès familywhich holds 66.7 % of the actions of the luxury group, is estimated at 163.4 billion euros. When that of Bernard Arnault and his clan, at the head of 48 % of the capital of LVMH, reached 116.7 billion euros, according to the calculations of the economic information magazine made from stock market values. The 2025 prize list reflects the changes underway in the luxury industry, whose growth has slowed since mid-2024, recalls the magazine. In 2024, Hermès surpassed his peers, seeing his net profit increased by 6.8 %. Hermès (15.2 billion euros in turnover in 2024) earned more than 2.5 % of value, on the luxury market. The turpitudes of this luxury market also are the fortune of the Pinault familyat the head of the Kering group, which fell to 15 billion euros, against 23.6 billion in 2024, explains Challenges and that of the shareholder family of Chanel, the brothers Alain et Gérard Wertheimer. In the cosmetics sector, The Bettencourt familyheiress of the L’Oréal groupsees his fortune reaching 73.8 billion euros, compared to 84.1 billion euros in 2024, still according to their information.

Who are the members of the Hermès clan?

To take an interest in the Hermès family, we can count on the research of reporters reporters Raphaëlle Bacqué and Vanessa Schneider, in the world. Their two books Successions seized the subject of the richest families of French industrialists. If the Arnault family unleashes passions, each of its members belonging to the LVMH conglomerate, others are much less known. Among the Hermès, Each cousin, of this Protestant tribe, “presents itself with exquisite courtesy“specify the authors. As a reminder of the context, ten years earlier, this royal luxury family almost lost everything against the boss of LVMH, Bernard Arnault. Here, we are not talking about the company but of “maison“. We replace”cher” par “expensive. Axel Dumas is the CEO. We can surprise the latter on the weekend in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, strolling in jeans and white shirt in the district bookstores. No one would guess that it is up to one of the richest French families, now even the richest.

It is the nephew of the late Jean-Louis Dumas, who was president of Hermès from 1978 to 2006. In a quarter of a century, the latter internationalized the company and raised it to the forefront of luxury crafts. Axel Dumas is the son of Olivier Dumas, doctor, and Michèle, deputy director general of Hermès, one of the few women in the family to have held such a position, who died of cancer at the age of 55. It mainly belongs to the branch of the Dumas, the only one, among the three, to have always managed. As precise The worldhe is married to a journalist of Libération. At Hermès, we work with family, and thus, Pierre-Alexis Dumas, cousin of Axel, is none other than the artistic director of the company and son of former president Jean-Louis Dumas. They “get along like two brothers who love each other“.

Bertrand Puech is the representative of the second branch of the family, and chairs the supervisory board of Hermès. The Puech, the second most important branch, direct, through Bertrand Puech, the family holding company. Finally, the Guerrand, “pass for family torchmen“Apart from Jérôme Guerrand, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Hermès International, the other four cousins ​​Guerrand intend above all to enjoy the benefits they inherited, specify our colleagues. What gives them a lifestyle is”without common measure with that of dumas cousins“.