Chanel owners get record $5bn windfall
CHANEL has paid a record dividend to its owners after the super-rich flocked to its stores.
The $5billion (£4billion) windfall was transferred from the Londonbased Chanel luxury group to a Cayman Islands company controlled by Gerard Wertheimer, 71, and his brother Alain, 73.
The net worth of the Wertheimers has soared more than a third this year to $90billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The payment will be welcomed by the brothers who did not take a dividend at the height of the pandemic in the previous year. It is the biggest annual payout from the label ever.
Chanel is best known for its little black dresses and No5 perfume. New products this season include its wool tweed and rutheniumfinish metal handbag in dark pink, black and silver which sells for £6,590. The company’s printed silk muslin burgundy and black dress will cost you £7,770. Demand for some of the products has been so high that Chanel plans to limit purchases on certain items, including its quilted Classic Flap handbag.
The company wants to create more dedicated boutiques for topspending clients as rapid growth risks ‘overcrowding’ its stores, according to a recent report.
‘Solid customer spend’ is being hailed for a 55 per cent increase in sales to $15.7billion last year. Profit rose 171 per cent to $5.5billion.
Despite paying the dividend to the Cayman Islands tax haven, the amount of tax paid by the company on its profits more than doubled to $1.4 billion.
The Wertheimers’ grandfather Pierre Wertheimer founded the company with Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel in 1910.