Arnault vs Peterffy
LVMH and Interactive Brokers.
The differences
- Forbes puts Bernard Arnault about $11.6B ahead of Thomas Peterffy.Forbes figures from 8 Oct 2026 and 5 Sep 2026.
- Bernard Arnault: inherited and grew it. Thomas Peterffy: founded it.
- Thomas Peterffy is about 5 years older than Bernard Arnault.
- Bernard Arnault is from France; Thomas Peterffy is from United States.
Put someone else on either side
Side by side
Arnault
PeterffyThe money
- Net worth, Forbes
- $119BForbes, 8 Oct 2026
- $107BForbes, 5 Sep 2026
- Net worth, Bloomberg
- $133BBloomberg, 13 Oct 2026
- $104BBloomberg, 11 Oct 2026
- Forbes rank
- No. 7Annual list, date not stated
- No. 20Real-Time list, 5 Sep 2026
- Billionaire since
- 1997First year on a Forbes billionaires list: Forbes says he 'first appeared on Forbes' list of World's Billionaires in 1997', at an estimated $3.6 billion
- Not stated
Where it came from
- How it started
- Inherited and grew itStarted in his father's construction firm, Ferret-Savinel, and became its chairman in 1978; Forbes says he used $15 million from that business to buy Christian Dior in 1984. LVMH was formed in 1987 by merger and he has led it as majority shareholder since 1989
- Founded itFormed the business now known as Interactive Brokers in 1977 after buying an American Stock Exchange seat
- Main source
- LVMH stock, held mainly through Christian Dior and the family holding AgacheBloomberg: 'The majority of Bernard Arnault's fortune is derived from a 49% stake in LVMH'
- Interactive Brokers stock, held through IBG HoldingsBloomberg: 'The majority of Thomas Peterffy's fortune is derived from Interactive Brokers Group'
- Companies
- LVMHLVMH: Chairman and CEO
- Interactive BrokersInteractive Brokers: Founder and chairman
- Biggest stake
- LVMH50.33% owned
- Interactive Brokers67.5% owned
The person
- Born
- 5 Mar 1949Roubaix, France
- 1944Budapest, Hungary
- Country
- FranceLives in Paris, France
- United StatesLives in Palm Beach, Florida, United States
- Education
- Bachelor's degreeÉcole polytechnique
- Left university without a degreeAttended the College of Surveying in Hungary; studied at New York University without finishing
- Parents
- Born to an industrial family; his father ran a construction businessLVMH: 'born to an industrial family'; Forbes: 'His father made a small fortune in construction'
- Descended from Hungarian aristocrats who lost nearly everything under Soviet rule; arrived in the US in 1965 at 21 with no moneyForbes profile; parents' occupations not stated
What they give
- Giving Pledge
- Not a signer
- Not a signer
- Foundation
- Fondation Louis VuittonCreated by the LVMH group, announced by Arnault in 2006; a corporate foundation rather than a personal one
- Peterffy FoundationEstablished by Peterffy and run by his children; funds the Living Forest Project, Reweaving the Web and One Small Planet
- Lifetime giving
- Not stated
- Not stated
Role and record
- Role now
- Runs the companyChairman and CEO of LVMH; chairman of Groupe Arnault
- Chair of the boardFounder and chairman of Interactive Brokers
- Successor
- None named; all five children hold rolesDelphine Arnault is chair and CEO of Christian Dior Couture and an LVMH director; Antoine Arnault joined the LVMH Executive Committee in February 2026; Alexandre and Frédéric Arnault sit on the LVMH board
- Milan Galik succeeded him as CEO in 2019His son William Peterffy, CEO of One Small Planet, is an Interactive Brokers director
- Public office
- None found
- None found
- Legal record
- 2026: Paris Administrative Court of AppealThe court ordered him and his wife to pay about 22.5 million euros in additional taxes, social contributions, penalties and interest for 2010 and in wealth tax for 2012 to 2015, reversing a 2020 judgment; his representatives said they would appeal to the Conseil d'État.
- 1980: American Stock ExchangeSettled an exchange disciplinary matter over exceeding options position limits (Rule 904) with a $500 fine, per his FINRA BrokerCheck report.
