How to be the richest person in the world.

What was your answer? 

Was it Jeff Bezos? Wrong.

Elon Musk? Wrong again.

Warren Buffet? Wrong still. 

All good answers, and certainly none of the above are short of a pound or two, but you're not quite 'on the money', if you'll excuse the pun.

Give yourself a pat on the back if you answered Bernard Arnault... 

Who? Well, Bernard Arnault is the Chairman of LVMH Group (more recognisable perhaps as Luis Vuitton, Moet, Hennessy), is a 'multinational holding and conglomerate specialising in luxury goods, headquartered in Paris'. In other words, they specialise in luxury goods and services, in fact they own over 75 premium brands you probably will have heard of, including:

Tiffany & Co

Christian Dior

Fendi

Loro Piana

Bulgari

even Princess (yachting)

and of course, Luis Vuitton, Moet & Chandon, and Hennessy. 

So what? 

Well, two things. 

Firstly, it underlines, yet again, the power and the profitability of luxury goods and services to provide disproportionately large levels of income - you don't become the richest person in the world without making eye-watering profit margins. 

Which leads me on to the second point - despite the size, customer base, and fame of the Musks and Bezos of the world, even with their exceptional businesses achieving truly incredible things, their market leading, mass market, offerings are still no match for premium brands. 

Even travelling to Mars, launching satellites, disrupting the entire car industry, revolutionising retail, and owning one of the largest social media platforms on the planet simply can't compete with more 'straightforward' businesses: selling luxury goods and services; clothes, jewellery and alcohol, at a premium price point.  

I talk a lot about the premium property market NOT being a niche, as it is commonly perceived. Over 50% of all the estate agency fees the entire industry is chasing, come from properties priced £500,000 and over (Source: 'Voice of the Agent' Survey 2023, Land Registry). 

If you don't have a differentiated strategy for targeting the premium market, then you are leaving money on the table... if you don't believe me, just ask the richest man in the world. 

David Lindley.