Iconic German fashion designer and photographer Karl Lagerfeld, who passed away in February 2019 at the age of 85, had a net worth of $300 million.
Despite not having a successful personal collection, Lagerfeld made a fortune designing for other people, particularly through his longstanding associations with Chanel and Fendi.
He was the creative director of Fendi from 1965 until his death and Chanel from 1983 until his death. With lifetime contracts with both brands, Lagerfeld reportedly earned a minimum of $50 million annually.
Karl Lagerfeld was renowned as one of the most prolific fashion designers of the 20th and 21st centuries, designing more than a dozen collections per year late into life. He launched his own fashion label, Karl Lagerfeld, in 1984, and was also a published photographer, with several books to his name.
Rumors about Lagerfeld’s health began to swirl in January 2019, after he missed Chanel’s Spring/Summer 2019 Haute Couture shows during Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week. On February 18th, he was admitted to the American Hospital of Paris, where he passed away the following morning from complications of pancreatic cancer.
The fate of Karl Lagerfeld’s estate and possessions after his death
Before his death, Lagerfeld requested to be cremated, with his ashes to be dispersed alongside those of his mother and his beloved cat, Choupette, who was named as a beneficiary in his will. Lagerfeld’s estate reportedly includes an 18th-century nine-bedroom apartment on the Left Bank in Paris, several homes, and a $31 million Monaco apartment. However, as of June 2020, none of the six beneficiaries named in Lagerfeld’s will, besides Choupette, had been granted access to the money yet.
In March 2021, Sotheby’s announced that it would be auctioning off several of Lagerfeld’s possessions in Monaco. A celebration of Lagerfeld’s life, “Karl For Ever,” was held at the Grand Palais in Paris in June 2019, attended by 2,500 people.