The Financial Company Agache, owned by Bernard Arno – the third in the ranking of the richest people in the world, sold 5.5 percent of the shares of the French retailer Carrefour at a price of $ 19 for a total of about 850 million dollars before tax deductions. Forbes reports that one of the richest people of the world has committed a rare investment error.
Arno got rid of his share in Carrefour 14 years after the first investment, which was not favorable: the shares fell by almost 70 percent from the date of purchase in March 2007. Then Groupe Arnault (Maternal company Financial Agache) acquired 9.8 percent of the shares in partnership with Colony Capital and Axon Capital investment firms. At that time, the cost of Carrefour’s share was from 4.3 to 5 billion dollars. In 2017, partners terminated the transaction, leaving Arno 8.7 percent of shares worth 1.6 billion dollars. In September 2020, he began selling his stake in Carrefour. Then Arno got rid of shares in the amount of $ 410 million, lowered its share to 5.5 percent.
Carrefour’s investment has become a rare mistake for a billionaire, if we consider that his own capital increased six times since 2012. In May 2021, with a state of $ 186.3 billion, Arno took the first line in the ranking of the richest people in the world, where she was fixed for six weeks. For September 2021, he ranks third in the list, and the exit from Carrefour hardly influenced his condition, which is estimated at $ 184.6 billion.
Forbes calls investment in Carrefour unusual for Financial Agache, which owns assets in the field of fashion and luxury, but in the portfolio Arno there are other similar examples. In May 2020, the private investment company L Catterton with the support of Arno invested $ 400 million in the Bonds of the Norwegian Cruise Line Cruise Routes of the Norwegian Cruise Line. In March 2021, Norwegian bought them back in more than 1 billion dollars, as a result of which Arno and his partners received a profit of $ 600 million.
In the list of richest people in the world leads the founder of Amazon Jeff Bezos. His condition is estimated at 201 billion dollars. The second line holds the General Director of Tesla and Spacex Ilon Mask with a state of 192 billion dollars.