Meet the Wertheimers, the secretive French brothers worth $96 billion who control Chanel, own vineyards in France and Napa Valley, and breed racehorses
The Wertheimer family fortune dates back to 1920s Paris when Pierre Wertheimer funded fashion designer Coco Chanel.
The brothers have a combined net worth of $96 billion.
Michel Dufour/WireImage/Getty Images
The Wertheimer fortune dates back to 1920s Paris when Pierre Wertheimer funded designer Coco Chanel.
His grandsons, brothers Alain and Gerard Wertheimer, control Chanel and are worth about $96 billion.
The brothers own three vineyards in France and Napa Valley, and breed and race thoroughbreds.
Alain, 74, and brother Gerard Wertheimer, 71, both have fortunes worth $48 billion for a combined net worth of $96 billion.Alain Wertheimer and his brother, Gerard, attend the Prix de Diane Longines at Hippodrome de Chantilly on June 12, 2011 in Chantilly, France.
Their wealth stems from their grandfather's acquisition of French fashion house Chanel. Back in 1925, their grandfather, Frenchman Pierre Wertheimer, and his brother Paul, struck a deal with Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel.Pierre Wertheimer with the trophy after his horse, Lavandin, won the Epsom Derby on June 6, 1956.
They founded Société des Parfums Chanel with the aim of selling and producing Chanel beauty products. Chanel herself saw it as an opportunity to get her signature fragrance, Chanel No. 5, into the hands of more customers.Coco Chanel in 1929.
Chanel was a Nazi sympathizer and was well-connected in the world of prominent Nazis. She dated a Gestapo spy and appeared to have worked as an informant during World War II, though she was never charged.Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel relaxes in her book-lined studio above her Paris salon on April 21, 1954.
In 1941, Chanel tried to legally wrest control of the company from Pierre Wertheimer. The Wertheimers were Jewish and, at that time, owned over 50% of the fashion house. Chanel attempted to use a law that banned Jews from owning businesses.An undated photo of French fashion designer Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel.
But Chanel was unsuccessful, as the Wertheimers had secretly handed off their stake to another French businessman before fleeing France during the Nazi occupation. In 1954, Pierre Wertheimer took full control of the company in exchange for promising to pay Coco Chanel's bills and taxes from then on. She died 17 years later.A Chanel fashion show in 1971.
Pierre died in the 1960s, and control of the company passed to his son, Jacques. In 1973, at 25 years old, Jacques' son Alain convinced the board of trustees to let him take over the company.Alain Wertheimer in 2013.
The brothers assumed the roles of co-owners of the House of Chanel in 1996. Alain serves as chairman while Gerard heads the company's watch division from his home in Geneva. They are the third generation to run the over 110-year-old company.Alain and Gerard Wertheimer.
The New York Times once described the brothers as "fashion's quietest billionaires." Gerard told The Times' magazine in 2002 that the family prefers being discreet. "It's about Coco Chanel. It's about Karl [Lagerfeld]. It's about everyone who works and creates at Chanel. It's not about the Wertheimers," he said at the time.Gerard, left, and Alain Wertheimer at the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at the Hippodrome de Longchamp in 2006.
In 1983, the Wertheimer brothers appointed Karl Lagerfeld as the artistic director of Chanel's fashion division.Karl Lagerfeld, right, talks with Gerard Wertheimer in 2007.
The New York Times called Lagerfeld the most "prolific designer" of the 20th and 21st centuries.Karl Lagerfeld in 1983 at the studio of another French fashion house, Chloe.
"When I took on Chanel, it was a sleeping beauty. Not even a beautiful one. She snored," Lagerfeld said in a 2007 documentary called "Lagerfeld Confidential." "So I was to revive a dead woman."
Lagerfeld died in February 2019, and a tribute was held in Paris that June to remember the fashion icon. Celebrities including Tilda Swinton, Cara Delevingne, Helen Mirren, and Pharrell Williams attended.
Even as Chanel regained its prominence in the fashion world and the Wertheimers' fortune grew, they remained low-key and press-shy. If they attend a Chanel fashion show, they drive themselves, and then sit in the third or fourth row.Models walk the runway at the Chanel Haute Couture Spring Summer 2019 fashion show as part of Paris Fashion Week on January 22, 2019.
The brothers never attend the opening of Chanel stores, nor do they publicly comment on the business.Shoppers wait to get into a Chanel boutique in London.
Before 2018, Chanel never announced sales numbers, leaving the industry to merely guess its worth. When the company did finally release financials for the first time in 108 years, it reported total sales for the 2017 calendar year of $9.62 billion.
Alain and Gerard haven't shared publicly who will take over Chanel and whether it will stay in the family's control, though they are both married with three and two children, respectively.Gerard and Alain Wertheimer.
Like the generations that preceded them, the brothers are heavily involved in horse racing. Their grandfather, Pierre, bred and raced thoroughbreds — in fact, it was at the races where Coco Chanel and Pierre met.Owner Pierre Wertheimer leads colt Lavandin, with jockey Rae Johnstone, after victory in the English Derby at Epsom Downs in 1956.
The brothers inherited Wertheimer et Frère, the family's horse-racing and breeding business. Gerard Wertheimer oversees the family's horse stock.Alain Wertheimer and Gerard Wertheimer, owners of the House of Chanel, with jockey Olivier Peslier attend the Prix de Diane Hermes on June 13, 2004.
In 1995, it was estimated that the family owned close to 200 horses across its four ranches in Chantilly, France; California; Kentucky; and the family's stud farm in Normandy, France.Gerard Wertheimer attends the 'Cravaches D'Or' Awards 2013 At Theatre des Champs Elysees In Paris.
Wertheimer horses have won the Breeders' Cup four times. In 2015, one of their horses won the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes Race in 2015. Queen Elizabeth II presented the trophy to the Wertheimers following the race that bore her name.Queen Elizabeth II presents the trophy to owners Alain Wertheimer and Gerard Wertheimer, after their horse Solow won the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes Race in 2015.
Chanel bought the St. Supery winery in California's Napa Valley the same year. The purchase of the St. Supery winery cemented the brothers' status in the wine industry.A worker drives a tractor through the vineyard at St. Supery Winery September 20, 2006, in Rutherford, California.
Also in 2015, the brothers finished the renovation of Chateau Canon. Chateau Canon has six bedrooms, but is not a hotel — guests can only stay if they're invited. The Wertheimer family and their guests can often be found in the château in the summer, according to The Wall Street Journal.Vineyards at Chateau Canon 1er Grand Cru Classe, St Emilion in the Bordeaux wine region of France, seen here in 2010.
Alain Wertheimer owns a Connecticut country house and a "grand apartment on Fifth Avenue," according to The New York Times. Chanel's executive offices are on 57th Street, only a short distance from Alain's home.New York City's Upper East Side.
The Wertheimer family enjoys shooting game at their chateau in France's Loire Valley and skiing at their chalet in the Swiss Alps. As of 2002, the brothers owned eight homes around the world, The Times reported.This is not the chateau the Wertheimer brothers own in Loire Valley.
The Wertheimers have a vast art collection that includes pieces by Picasso and Matisse, but they don't loan any of the pieces out and they don't allow them to be photographed."Tete De Femme" by Pablo Picasso up for auction at Sotheby's in London, England.
The fashion house reported over $15 billion in revenue in 2021, up over 20% compared to 2019. While the company hasn't released its 2022 financials, its CFO said last May that Chanel was experiencing double-digit growth in 2022.
Like other luxury-goods companies, Chanel has started catering to its high-net-worth customers, who have remained resilient amid economic upheaval. The brand's handbags, already a luxury item, rose in price three times between 2021 and 2022. And Chanel said last year that it plans to open boutiques specifically geared toward its highest-spending clients.
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