Meet the Wertheimers, the secretive French brothers worth $96 billion who control Chanel, own vineyards in France and Napa Valley, and breed racehorses (2024)

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Alain, 74, and brother Gerard Wertheimer, 71, both have fortunes worth $48 billion for a combined net worth of $96 billion.

Source: Bloomberg

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.

Source: The New York Times

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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.

Source: The New York Times

Before 1924, the fragrance was only available to exclusive clientele at Chanel's Paris boutiques.

Source: The New York Times

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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.

Source: PBS

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.

Source: The Guardian

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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.

Source: The Guardian, Bloomberg

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.

Source: The New York Times

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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.

Source: Forbes, The New York Times

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.

Source: The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times

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In 1983, the Wertheimer brothers appointed Karl Lagerfeld as the artistic director of Chanel's fashion division.

Source: The New York Times Magazine

The New York Times called Lagerfeld the most "prolific designer" of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Source: The New York Times

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Lagerfeld spent three decades overseeing design for Chanel, revolutionizing the brand and saving it from a potential financial collapse.

Source: Insider

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"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."

Source: Insider

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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.

Source: Vogue

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.

Source: The New York Times Magazine

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The brothers never attend the opening of Chanel stores, nor do they publicly comment on the business.

Source: The New York Times Magazine

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.

Source: The New York Times

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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.

Source: The New York Times

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The brothers inherited Wertheimer et Frère, the family's horse-racing and breeding business. Gerard Wertheimer oversees the family's horse stock.

Source: Insider,The New York Times

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.

Source: The New York Times

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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.

Source: Kentucky Derby, Bloodhorse

In 1994, the brothers bought Bordeaux winery Chateau Rauzan-Segla.

Source: Bloomberg

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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.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

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.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

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The brothers also have a 1% stake in Ulta, the beauty store chain worth nearly $27 billion.

Source: Bloomberg

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.

Source: The New York Times

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Gerard is said to own a secluded, French-style mansion in the Vandœuvres region of Geneva, Switzerland.

Source: The New York Times

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.

Source: The New York Times

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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.

Source: The New York Times

As for Chanel, it now has storefronts all over the world and is headquartered in Paris, France.

Source: Forbes

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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.

Source: WWD

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.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, Business of Fashion