Government apologises for accidentally leaking email address of one of world’s richest men

The government has apologised for accidentally leaking the email address of one of the world’s richest men in the lead-up to a major summit hosted by Britain.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has referred itself to the data protection watchdog and apologised for the “human error” after officials sent around a message about the global investment summit next week.

The email displayed the contact details of fashion mogul Bernard Arnault and other business leaders.

Mr Arnault, a French tycoon who founded and owns the luxury goods firm LVMH (Moët Hennessy - Louis Vuitton), has an estimated net worth of $177bn (£135bn) and is currently ranked as the world’s third-richest person, according to Bloomberg Billionaire’s Index.

The 75-year-old entrepreneur saw his net worth leap by approximately £23bn earlier this month, leapfrogging Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg’s estimated total.

He is one of around 300 industry leaders invited to attend the government’s International Investment Summit in London on Monday, where ministers will pitch the UK as a more attractive destination for business.

The DBT said the blunder had been reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

A spokesperson said: “This was caused by an administrative human error, and we apologise to those affected.

“We take data protection very seriously, and we have referred this issue to the Information Commissioner’s Office.”

Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer will pitch the UK as “open for business” during the summit, part of his bid to drive growth into the country.

Confirmed speakers include Ruth Porat, president and chief investment officer at Alphabet and Google, Alex Kendall, chief executive of AI firm Wayve, and Bruce Flatt, head of Brookfield Asset Management.

Investment giant Blackstone has already confirmed a £10bn deal to develop Europe’s largest AI data centre in Blyth, Northumberland.

According to a BBC report, Tesla chief Elon Musk has not been invited to the summit because of his social media posts during the recent riots in England.

Mr Musk responded to a tweet saying that he had been snubbed by the UK, posting: “I don’t think anyone should go to the UK when they’re releasing convicted paedophiles in order to imprison people for social media posts.”