Alain and Gerard Wertheimer are known as the Chanel heirs and are now also recognized as the richest Swiss residents. This title was previously held by the Ikea-founding Kamprad family for the longest time, but the post-pandemic boom in luxury goods led to the secretive brothers taking the lead. The Wertheimers are behind the famed Parisian fashion house that has given the world icons like Chanel No. 5 perfume, unparalleled fashion, and the finest examples of jewelry. Their wealth soared to as much as 42 billion Swiss francs ($47.6 billion) last year, according to Bilanz magazine.
The Wertheimers are now worth a whopping $44.7 billion at the time of writing. The closely held luxury goods group, founded by fashion designer Coco Chanel in 1910, reported revenue of $17.2 billion in 2022, according to Bloomberg. Alain and Gérard, the most low-profile billionaires on the planet, also own vineyards and four stables of racehorses, in addition to holding ownership of some of the most iconic fashion brands in the world. Their grandfather, Pierre Wertheimer, and his brother Paul struck a deal with Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel in 1925 to fund her up-and-coming fashion business.
The brothers struck gold with Karl Lagerfeld, whom they appointed as the artistic director of Chanel’s fashion division in 1983. “When I took on Chanel, it was a sleeping beauty. Not even a beautiful one. She snored,” Lagerfeld said in the 2007 documentary Lagerfeld Confidential, per SCMP. “So I was to revive a dead woman.” Today, the brothers control the entire Chanel business empire. While Alain serves as chairman, Gerard heads Chanel’s watch division from his home in Switzerland.
