Chanel shareholders gain $5 billion in dividends as sales of luxury good rises

• According to UK records, the Wertheimer family’s Cayman Islands-based holding company for Chanel received two US$2.5 billion dividends in 2021.
• According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the Wertheimers’ net worth has increased 37% this year to US$90 billion
• Alain, 73, and Gerard, 71, are said to own equal interests in the closely held corporation.

Last year, the family behind Chanel received a US$5 billion bonanza as global demand for its premium goods pushed one of the world’s largest multigenerational fortunes to new heights.

According to UK records, the Wertheimer family’s Cayman Islands-based holding company for Chanel received two US$2.5 billion dividends in 2021. It is the purveyor of No. 5 perfume and tiny black dresses’ largest yearly payout since it began reporting financial statements.

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According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the Wertheimers’ net worth has increased 37% this year to US$90 billion, as price increases enabled the luxury goods supplier to approach pre-pandemic profit levels in 2021. Alain, 73, and Gerard, 71, are said to own equal interests in the closely held corporation.

Chanel’s spokeswoman declined to speak further, referring to the company’s 2021 results.

Over the last two years, global demand for Chanel-branded products has increased, as have their prices. Its little classic flap bag was selling for US$8,200 in December, up 60% from November 2019, while clients at its Paris store could only buy one bag at a time, with a two-month wait before purchasing another. At 5 a.m., shoppers in Seoul lined up outside a Chanel boutique for the opportunity to win a US$9,500 pocketbook.

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According to Bloomberg data, the most recently revealed distribution accounts for more than half of the almost US$8 billion Chanel has distributed in total dividends since the beginning of 2016.

The windfalls enabled the brothers to broaden their fortune beyond high-end products.