Yesterday, Forbes came out with its annual international billionaires list for 2023. Top of the list is Bernard Arnault, the chief of luxury fashion company LVMH. This is apparently the first time a French citizen has ever topped the list, with Arnault eclipsing new Twitter owner Elon Musk by $31 billion.
On the Lebanese side of things, if we want to count the diaspora, Carlos Slim Helu (& family) ranks top, with his $93 billion net worth landing him 8th on the list. The Saades (Jacques, Rudolphe, Tanya) of CMA CGM fame, rank 184th on the list, with $9.8 billion each. Their net worth took a big hit this year, climbing down from around $41 billion in 2022.
On the domestic side of things, as usual, the Mikati brothers rank top for Lebanon, finishing at a joint 1067th on the list. Mikati joked in an interview on Al Jadeed last February that he “wishes those calculations were true, both the gains and the losses.” The Mikatis net worth is said to have fallen by $400 million over the last year, from $3.2 to $2.8 billion.
Further down the list, Bahaa el Hariri ranks at 1434th, with his net worth estimated at $2.1 billion. He is joined by Ayman and Fahed el Hariri, who rank 2020th and 2259th respectively. Notably, former PM Saad el Hariri continues to be off these lists, after reportedly squandering a sizable majority of his wealth.
Above the two other Hariris, Robert Mouawad, of jewelry fame, comes in at 1905th with a net worth of $1.5 billion.
Forbes’ chosen headline for this year’s edition is “Nearly half of all billionaires are poorer than they were a year ago.” All we can say is hopefully the trend continues.
