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Alister Lockhart

World's richest man shares in Morrison & Frydenberg's $13 billion taxpayer-funded JobKeeper cash splash on rich businessmen

 

Forbes, 25 May 2021:

CEO of LVMH  Bernard Arnault
IMAGE: AFP via Getty Images

French fashion tycoon Bernard Arnault is the world’s richest person this Monday morning, with an estimated net worth of $186.3 billion—putting him $300 million above Jeff Bezos, who is worth $186 billion, and Elon Musk, worth $147.3 billion.

Arnault’s fortune has jumped from $76 billion in March 2020 to $186.3 billion on Monday, a massive rise of over $110 billion in the past 14 months, thanks to a pandemic-defying performance by his luxury group LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy).

LVMH, which also owns household names like Fendi, Christian Dior and Givenchy, rose 0.4% during the first hours of trading on Monday, putting its market cap at $320 billion and pushing Arnault’s personal stake up by more than $600 million......

Pushed by the “momentum” of shoppers in China, according to Jefferies analyst Flavio Cereda, LVMH recorded revenue of $17 billion for the first quarter of 2021, up 32% compared to the same period in 2020. 

LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton's own subsidiary companies sell luxury goods in Australia. Its current share price is in the vicinity of €634.90 or Aust $1,013.73. The major shareholder in LVMH appears to be the Arnault Family Group, the holding company of Bernard Arnault.

Michael West Media, 6 September 2021:

Should Bernard Arnault rename his yacht Josh's Little Aussie Battler?
Image: Josip Baresic

Big business doesn’t vote, small business does. That’s the dilemma for Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg as they try to keep JobKeeper secret heading into the election. Michael West reports.

There is rising discontent in the Liberal Party’s small business base about the billions splashed on JobKeeper subsidies to large, profitable corporations.

No wonder. It is hardly comforting to know that the world’s richest man, French fashion magnate Bernard Arnault, is a beneficiary of Josh Frydenberg’s largesse. Perhaps Australian taxpayers may be afforded the privilege of adding to Bernard’s collection of Picassos or footing the fuel bill for his newest super-yacht (pictured in Monaco above) Symphony.

The symphony of revelations that large profitable companies, elite schools, posh clubs, and even foreign multinationals such as Bernard’s LVMH group which owns Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and Moët & Chandon have been gorging on JobKeeper, have just tossed an ugly big spanner in the works for the Coalition election campaign.

The debacle over the vaccine roll-out has rendered an early federal election unlikely. Amid exploding Covid infections in NSW, Morrison’s campaign team is now desperately pushing the narrative “end lockdowns, live with Covid” while demonising Labor state premiers for closed borders but, with every death, time is running out for an early election. Besides, what premier in their right mind would open their borders to NSW right now?…..

Read the full article here.

According to The Sydney Morning Herald, in 2020 one of LVMH’s Australian subsidiaries, Louis Vuitton, claimed $6 million in JobKeeper while recording an increase in sales revenue, a boost in its profits and an increase in shareholder dividends. The exact figure was $5,965,000.

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