Bernard Arnault

SPHERE OF INFLUENCE: France’s richest man ($26 billion) sits atop the 60-brand behemoth LVMH. He also makes investments through his Groupe Arnault and Blue Capital fund (which just became the largest shareholder in Carrefour, the planet’s second-biggest retailer after Wal-Mart). Last winter he added the French financial daily Les Echos to his robust media portfolio, and he made a splash in June when he snapped up motorboat manufacturer Princess Yachts for nearly $400 million.

BRAGGING RIGHTS: LVMH, which owns six champagne brands (Veuve Clicquot, Krug, and Moët & Chandon among them), controls the largest share of the limited grape output from France’s Champagne region.

NEPOTISM ALERT: Both his son Antoine and daughter Delphine sit on LVMH’s board.

THORN IN HIS SIDE: Watches. The 59-year-old magnate apparently feels that LVMH isn’t No. 1 in the luxury-timepiece market yet. He acquired the Swiss brand Hublot earlier this year to help close the gap. (He already owns Tag Heuer and Christian Dior.)

POWER STRUGGLE: LVMH is battling peddlers of counterfeits. In June, a French court ordered eBay to pay the luxury label $61 million for selling imitation LVMH goods on its site.