紐時賞析／強調平等精神？法國卻成超級富豪聚集地

France, Guardian of Égalité, Leads the List of Ultrarich

強調平等精神？法國卻成超級富豪聚集地

France, which has been riven lately by angry protests over income inequality, can now claim to have the world’s richest man and woman: Bernard Arnault, CEO of the LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton luxury empire, and Françoise Bettencourt-Meyers, heir of global cosmetics giant L’Oréal.

近來因收入不平等引發憤怒抗議的法國，現在可以聲稱擁有世界最富裕的男人和女人：精品帝國酩悅．軒尼詩─路易．威登集團（LVMH）執行長阿諾德，及全球美妝品牌巨頭萊雅集團繼承人梅耶爾。

Their combined net worth is nearly $300 billion, according to Forbes’ latest tally.

「富比世」最新統計數據顯示，他們的淨資產相加將近3000億美元。

Arnault, 74, whose worldwide domain encompasses 75 brands, including Louis Vuitton handbags, Tiffany diamond rings, Christian Dior dresses and Sephora high-end cosmetics, leaped past American technology titans with a fortune estimated at $211 billion as of March 10, when the Forbes figures were tallied.

74歲的阿諾德在全球擁有75個品牌，包括LV手提包、蒂芙尼鑽戒、迪奧的裙子和絲芙蘭高端化妝品；富比世統計數據出爐時顯示，截至3月10日，他的財富超越美國眾多科技巨頭，達2110億美元。

Bettencourt-Meyers, 69, who has led the Forbes list of the world’s wealthiest women for three straight years, had an estimated net worth of $80.5 billion. A granddaughter of L’Oréal’s founder, she is on the company’s board and together with her husband makes many of the controlling decisions. Her company’s international cosmetics brands include Kiehl’s, Lancôme, Maybelline New York and Essie.

69歲的梅耶爾連續3年位居富比世排行榜上全球最富有的女性，她的淨資產約805億美元。她是萊雅集團創辦人的孫女，也是該集團董事會成員，並與丈夫做出許多控管決策。她的公司旗下國際美妝品牌包括契爾氏、蘭蔻、媚比琳和Essie。

The eye-popping figures, which include the billionaires’ personal holdings of company stocks, testify to the resilience of wealthy consumers against a cost-of-living crisis, as high earners continued to splurge on luxury goods — especially in the wake of pandemic lockdowns. L’Oréal had global sales of more than $38 billion last year, while LVMH had record revenue of $80 billion.

這些令人吃驚的數據，包括這些億萬富豪對公司的個人持股，證明富裕消費者面對生活成本危機時的韌性，高收入者持續揮霍金錢購買奢侈品，特別是在新冠疫情封鎖過後。萊雅集團去年全球銷售額超過380億美元，LVMH收入則達創紀錄的800億美元。

“More people are flocking to spending on luxury goods after having survived COVID lockdowns,” said Luca Solca, chief luxury goods analyst at Bernstein. “The middle class did suffer and is hollowing out. But the wealthy were untouched, and the upper middle class is spending on all fronts.”

聯博資產管理公司奢侈品首席分析師索卡表示：「經歷新冠封鎖後，更多人蜂擁購買奢侈品。中產階級確實蒙受損失且正被掏空。但富人未受影響，中上階級正在各方面花錢。」

High-flying technology companies, on the other hand, have faced a major reckoning over the past year amid a surge in interest rates, high inflation and uncertain economic conditions. Rapid growth during the pandemic has been followed by widespread layoffs, and a nearly 30% slump in tech shares last year cut sharply into the fortunes of Elon Musk, owner of Twitter and Tesla, and Amazon’s executive chair, Jeff Bezos. Musk slipped to second place in Forbes’ rankings, with an estimated fortune of $180 billion, and Bezos came in third with $114 billion.

另一方面，在利率飆升、高通膨率和經濟環境不確定之際，原本意氣風發的科技公司過去一年面臨大考驗。疫情期間快速增長後緊接而來是大規模裁員，去年科技股暴跌近3成，讓特斯拉和推特老闆馬斯克及亞馬遜執行董事長貝佐斯財富大減。馬斯克在富比世排名落居第2，財富估計1800億美元，位居第3的貝佐斯則是1140億美元。

文／Liz Alderman　譯／羅方妤