Business Insider India has updated its Privacy and Cookie policy. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the better experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we\'ll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the Business Insider India website. However, you can change your cookie setting at any time by clicking on our Cookie Policy at any time. You can also see our Privacy Policy.
Meet the Wertheimers, the secretive French brothers worth $42 billion who control Chanel, own vineyards in France and Napa Valley, and breed racehorses
Meet the Wertheimers, the secretive French brothers worth $42 billion who control Chanel, own vineyards in France and Napa Valley, and breed racehorses
His grandsons, brothers Alain and Gerard Wertheimer, control Chanel today, which generated $9.6 billion in 2018.
They own 3 vineyards in France and one in Napa Valley. They also breed and race thoroughbreds, according to Forbes.
The brothers have a combined net worth of $42 billion.
Alain and Gerard Wertheimer, co-owners of luxury brand Chanel, are amongst the 10 richest people living in France. Their wealth, while largely inherited, has been grown through business deals and acquisitions spanning retail, wine, and horse racing.
The brothers are largely tight-lipped, hardly ever speaking to the press or giving interviews about their wealth, companies, family, relationships, or hobbies. They live lavish lifestyles in private, surrounding themselves with those similarly closemouthed, and are known as fashion's quietest billionaires.
With a combined net worth over $40 billion, the Wertheimer brothers are among the richest people in the world.
Alain, 70, and brother Gerard Wertheimer, 67, both have a net worth of $21 billion for a combined net worth of $42 billion.
Their wealth began with their grandfather's acquisition of Chanel, the French fashion house, which they both co-own today. They also own various vineyards across the world and racehorses.
Their grandfather, Frechman Pierre Wertheimer, and his brother Paul, struck a deal with Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel in 1924, founding Société des Parfums Chanel — a deal to sell and produce Chanel beauty products.
In 1941, during World War II, Chanel tried to legally wrest control from Pierre Wertheimer, attempting to use the law banning Jews from owning businesses. However, she failed. During the time, the Wertheimers owned over 50 percent of the fashion house.
Pierre Wertheimer took full control of Chanel in 1954, and Coco Chanel died 17 years later.
Brothers Alain and Gerard Wertheimer assumed the role as co-owners of the House of Chanel in 1996 after their father, Jacques Wertheimer, son of Pierre, died.
Alain serves as the chairman of Chanel.
Gerard heads the company's watch division from his home in Geneva. They are the third generation to run the nearly 110-year-old company.
The two are known as "fashion’s quietest billionaires," according to The New York Times. They hardly ever take interviews or speak publicly about France's most iconic fashion house, which they both helm.
''We're a very discreet family, we never talk,'' Gérard Wertheimer told The New York Times Magazine in 2002. ''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.''
Lagerfeld would go on to revolutionize the iconic French fashion house for over 3 decades, saving it from a potential financial collapse, up until his death in February 2019.
“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.”
If the Wertheimer brothers do attend a Chanel fashion show, they drive themselves, and then sit in the third or fourth row. The two also never attend the opening of Chanel stores, nor do they publicly comment on the business.
Before 2018, Chanel never announced sales numbers, leaving the industry to merely guess its worth. Numbers released last year, for the first time in 108 years, showed total sales for the 2017 calendar year were $9.62 billion.
As both Alain and Gerard near their 70s, it still remains unknown who will succeed them in the Chanel business.
The brothers never speak about Chanel publicly. In a New York Times article from 2002, Alain told a reporter why he spoke with Wine Spectator and declined to comment for the paper:
"I spoke to the Wine Spectator because that's PR, that's how you sell wine. I will gladly speak to you, about the wine and the horses, because we sell the brand value. Horses are the brand value of 'Wertheimer Frères.' But I don't give interviews on Chanel because it is not useful for the Chanel business.''
The family's first racing winner was in 1911 — Pierre's first champion, Epinard, in the early 1920s. But Pierre's greatest victory was in 1956, when Lavandin won the Epsom Derby.
In 1995, the latest estimation was that the family owned close to 200 horses across four of its ranches in Chantilly, California, Kentucky, and Normandy.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Wertheimer family and their guests can often be found in the château in the summer, according to chateau employees.
According to The Wall Street Journal, a "large but humble bamboo table greets guests in the entry hall" of the chateau, which also features modern furniture with shades of purple and pink, and down in the wine cellar, there are bottles dating back to the early 1800s.
Alain Wertheimer reportedly owns a "grand apartment on Fifth Avenue," according to The New York Times, which he shares with his wife Brigitte and 3 children.
Chanel's executive offices are only a short distance from Alain's home, on 57th Street. Alain and his brother spend some of their time in New York despite the fact that the family owned, as of 2002, over eight homes across the world.
Gerard is said to own a secluded, French-style mansion in the Vandœuvres region of Geneva, which is filled with antiques. He has been described as not taking part in any social activities or being seen in restaurants.
The Wertheimers also collect a lot of important art, which decorates many of their homes. Some of their highly-priced pieces are by Picasso, Matisse, Rousseau — to name a few.
