World’s Third Richest Person Finally Unloads Stake In French Retailer Carrefour

French luxury goods billionaire Bernard Arnault, the world’s third richest person, sold his remaining shares in French supermarket chain Carrefour on Tuesday, marking his exit from the firm fourteen years after he first invested in 2007. Arnault’s holding company, Financière Agache, sold its 5.5% stake in Carrefour at about $19 per share for a total of roughly $850 million before taxes.

It has not proved to be a profitable investment. In March 2007, Agache’s parent company Groupe Arnault purchased a 9.8% stake in partnership with investment firms Colony Capital and Axon Capital for a price estimated between $4.3 and $5 billion at the time. The partners exited the deal in January 2017, leaving Arnault with an 8.7% stake that was then worth about $1.6 billion. Arnault frequently acquired additional shares in Carrefour over the years by choosing to receive the firm’s dividend in shares, rather than in…