The World's Richest Person, Bernard Arnault, Names His Daughter the New CEO at Christian Dior

The world's richest person, Bernard Arnault, just appointed his daughter CEO at Christian Dior.

The fashion house's parent company LVMH, a global luxury goods conglomerate that he runs, announced the news on Wednesday.

Delphine Arnault, 45, will move over from Louis Vuitton, where she served as executive vice president, to her new position as CEO and chair of Christian Dior Couture starting Feb. 1. She will replace Pietro Beccari, who has been CEO of Dior since 2018; Beccari is now moving to run Louis Vuitton.

Bernard called his daughter's appointment "another milestone in a career journey in fashion and leather goods defined by excellence" in a statement released with the announcement.

"Under her leadership, the desirability of Louis Vuitton products advanced significantly, enabling the brand to regularly set new sales records," he continued in the statement. "Her keen insights and incomparable experience will be decisive assets in driving the ongoing development of Christian Dior."

Bernard, 73, remains active as CEO for LVMH, which he co-founded in 1987. In addition to Dior and Louis Vuitton, the luxury goods corporation includes more than 70 prestigious brands, including Givenchy, Marc Jacobs, Moët & Chandon, Tiffany & Co. and Fenty Beauty.

According to a 2019 story in the New York Times, Bernard first began his accumulation of companies in the 1980s, when he purchased a bankrupt French textile company called Boussac. He sold most of the company but kept one piece, Dior, and expanded it.

Bernard has a reputation for being extremely competitive and wanted to own the top luxury company when he realized he couldn't be No. 1 in his two other passions, piano and tennis, according to the Times report.

He has two children from his first marriage, and three from his second. Along with Delphine — who shares a child with her partner, French billionaire Xavier Niel — three of his other kids work for various brands owned by LVMH.

Delphine's younger brother Alexandre Arnault is VP of product & communications at Tiffany & Co. Beyoncé and Jay-Z, who starred in one of the brand's most memorable campaigns, 2021's ABOUT LOVE, attended the 30-year-old's wedding in Venice that same year.

"Beyoncé and JAY-Z are the epitome of the modern love story. As a brand that has always stood for love, strength and self-expression, we could not think of a more iconic couple that better represents Tiffany's values," Alexandre said in a statement to PEOPLE at the time. "We are honored to have the Carters as a part of the Tiffany family."

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Bernard was worth $106.8 billion after LVMH agreed to buy Tiffany & Co., a deal executed for $16 billion in Nov. 2019. His net worth rose by 1 percent after the takeover of the iconic American jeweler was announced. Tiffany & Co. became a household name after the release of the 1961 Audrey Hepburn film Breakfast at Tiffany's, which is based on the novel by Truman Capote.

The 2019 purchase placed Bernard just (billions) shy of the two wealthiest people in the world, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

Forbes officially announced Bernard as the world's richest person in May of 2021, with an estimated net worth of $186.3 billion — putting him $300 million above Jeff Bezos, who was worth $186 billion, and Elon Musk, worth $147.3 billion at that time.