French Billionaire Overtakes Gates as World's 2nd Richest Person

French billionaire Bernard Arnault just surpassed Bill Gatesto to become the world's second-richest person.

Arnault, the CEO of luxury goods maker LVMH (LVMHF), overtook Gates on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which, for seven years since creation, has placed the latter among the top two.

Arnault has a net worth of around $108 billion, according to the index, having added $39 billion to his fortune in the past year. Microsoft (MSFT) founder Gates is worth $107 billion.

The two men have also traded spots on another billionaires' list published by Forbes.

Arnault has built LVMH into a global luxury powerhouse that controls brands such as Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and Givenchy. It's also the home of Champagne brand Dom Pérignon and beauty retailer Sephora.

According to Bloomberg, Gates would still rank first if not for his donations worth over $35 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Amazon (AMZN) CEO Jeff Bezos holds the top spot on the Bloomberg list with an estimated net worth of $125 billion.