The Richest Cat in the World

Karl Lagerfeld lived with extravagant possessions, including multiple luxury residences, extensive art and fashion collections, a large personal library, artworks by major contemporary artists, vehicles, and distinctive accessories. He reportedly spent about 1.5 million euros annually on flowers. He never married or had children and died of cancer in 2019, after which media estimated his fortune at over $200 million and speculated about who would inherit it. Under French law, details of his will and estate are not public, leaving only rumors. Potential beneficiaries mentioned include people close to him, such as models, executives, and staff, and the name Choupette, his Birman cat, has been repeatedly highlighted due to his strong statements about her importance in his life.

"Karl Lagerfeld, the great German fashion designer, lived in a surreal kind of grandeur. The creative director of both Chanel and Fendi, he owned apartments in Paris, Rome, and the Côte d'Azur, as well as villas in Biarritz and his native Hamburg; enormous collections of Art Deco furniture, antique jewelry, and couture garments; a personal library of some 300,000 books, by his own estimation; paintings and sculptures by Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami, and John Baldessari; three Rolls-Royces; a curious assemblage of 509 iPods; and hundreds of pairs of his trademark wraparound sunglasses and fingerless biker gloves."

"According to a conversation that his biographer, William Middleton, had with the Parisian florist Lachaume, his annual flower budget appears to have been about 1.5 million euros. Lagerfeld never married or had children, and when he died of cancer, in 2019, the press quickly began to speculate about the immense fortune he'd supposedly left behind, which a number of outlets, including Bloomberg, Forbes, and The Guardian, ballparked at more than $200 million. Speculation also swirled about where these riches would end up."

"More than seven years later, here is what is known for certain about the details of Lagerfeld's will and estate: nothing. (Under French law, such matters are not made public.) But plenty has been rumored. Various figures close to Lagerfeld have been suggested as beneficiaries, including several male models and fashion executives, his bodyguard, his housekeeper, and the princess of Monaco. Even so, from the start, one improbable name has stood out: Choupette, Lagerfeld's blue-cream Birman cat."

"In the years before he died, Lagerfeld often spoke in extraordinary ways about the role Choupette played in his life. Listen to just a fraction of his avowals: "I never thought that I could fall in love with an animal like this." "She is the center of the world. If you saw her, you would understand. She is kind of Greta Ga"

Read at The Atlantic