The staggering amount of money left by ‘Catwoman’ Jocelyne Wildenstein has been revealed not long after she declared bankruptcy amid a string of toxic family rows.
Three months on from the Swiss socialite’s death aged 84, a shocking turn of events suggests she set aside more than $100million for her partner of 22 years, Lloyd Klein.
It comes after reports Ms Wildenstein was being chased by tax creditors before she passed away, and in the aftermath of a long-standing row with her children.
Speaking to The Sun, Mr Klein said that on the day of Ms Wildenstein’s funeral in January, he took a call from Switzerland telling him he was the beneficiary of a life insurance policy she had taken out.
He said: ‘Jocelyne left me the most beautiful love gift ever that you can give and surprise your other half.
‘She did it right, she’s a lady. Jocelyne was secretive, she was mysterious.’
Questions remain over how Mr Klein, who was advised to employ bodyguards and an armed driver following the news, managed to secure the life insurance.
The fashion designer, who said his life had changed, has now taken up residence in a luxury apartment in Paris.
Jocelyne Wildenstein was last seen looking healthy on December 18 in Paris. The star smiled at onlookers while in a coat, leggings and boots as she wore black sunglasses and her blonde hair in soft waves over her shoulders. With partner Lloyd Klein
Seen in 2022 in NYC. Three months on from the Swiss socialite’s death aged 84, a shocking turn of events suggests she set aside more than $100million for her partner of 22 years, Lloyd Klein
Finished paperwork means he has access to the trust holding his $100million.
The transfer has not come without drama however with Mr Klein claiming not a single penny had been left by Ms Wildenstein for her two children Alec Jr and Diane, who are both in their forties.
Ms Wildenstein – known for her extensive cosmetic surgeries that created a cat-like facial appearance – had been estranged to the pair many years before she died, and neither attended her funeral.
In 1999, she received a reported $2.5billion settlement along with $100million a year after her divorce from art dealer Alec Wildenstein.
Mr Klein claimed the estrangement of the actress from her children came about after they stopped making payments to her.
He said after the death of their father in 2008 it fell to them to continue the transfer but they did not do it.
The 58-year-old went on to claim Ms Wildenstein had been preparing to file a lawsuit against her children before she died for 10 years of unpaid alimony for the sum of $1.2billion.
Alec Jr was given a suspended sentence and fined $40,800 in March last year at a court in France for his part in a massive tax fraud that saw his uncle, Guy Wildenstein, jailed.
Here Ms Wildenstein is seen at a much younger age holding a baby
Her throwback photo was taken at the Kenyan ranch of her late ex-husband Alec N. Wildenstein, where they met in 1977 before eloping in Las Vegas in 1978; pictured in 2000 in Paris
The uncle was also found guilty of money laundering and sentenced to four years in prison, half of it suspended, with the other half to be served under house arrest with an electronic bracelet.
Meanwhile Mr Klein has admitted he has already bought himself a birthday present – a Rolex watch for $500,000 – after he turned 58 on February 15.
He had it specifically engraved with Jocelyne’s name and date of death – December 31, 2024, but added his birthday had been a ‘painful day’.
The French couturier described his relationship with Ms Wildenstein as having been ‘very good’ with a high ‘cultural level’ and ‘understanding, ‘love’ and an ‘intense’ sexual life.
He also said Ms Wildenstein was always with him and they communicate ‘through signs’.
Among the signs are her phone apparently falling without reason from his night table to help him know she is there.
He also said he would go to the supermarket and get a ‘knot’ in his stomach when he saw something she would like.
Mr Klein has had a gold and glass pendant specially made in which some of Jocelyne’s ashes have been placed which he says he wears all the time.
Among the signs are Ms Wildenstein’s phone apparently falling without reason from Mr Klein’s night table to help him know she is there; seen in 2017 in NYC
Wildenstein at Cartier in Beverly Hills in 2005
Ms Wildenstein passed away in Paris from a pulmonary embolism.
The star, born Jocelyne Périsset, was taking a nap in a Parisian palace at the time of her death, local media reported.
Mr Klein said he woke up to find her dead beside him and that she had ‘looked beautiful’.
The pair had been getting ready to go to dinner at Laurent to celebrate the new year.
Mr Klein said, however, in the last three months in Paris, Ms Wildenstein had wanted to go out every night which was unlike her, and inferred from this it was as if she ‘knew she was going to go’.
The 58-year-old said his partner of 22 years had arranged the legacy ‘because of their love of one another’.
He added they had fights ‘like every couple’ but ‘we love each other’.
And he admitted the $100million was a surprise but that she was always surprising him.
Jocelyn lived a life of luxury with Wildenstein, but they divorced in 2000, allegedly after she discovered his infidelities. She won a stunning $2.5bn in the divorce, plus $100M to be paid annually for 13 years; pictured in 1997 in Manhattan
One such anecdote was him recounting how she had gifted him a very expensive Rolex he wanted on his birthday.
The Swiss-born socialite was nicknamed Catwoman due to her pronounced cat eyes and leonine features.
She had over 1 million Instagram followers and described herself as an ‘art dealer.’
The late icon came from humble origins, only to tie the knot in the 1970s with a French-born American billionaire.
But the two courted headlines just over two decades later with their messy divorce.
She became one of the wealthiest people on the planet after her divorce settlement, which left her with more than $2billion, plus millions more annually.
But she somehow managed to lose it all after years of tinkering with her face and spending on countless luxuries.
Alec N. Wildenstein was the son of the French art dealer and horse breeder Daniel Wildenstein.
Their family presided over Wildenstein & Co., an influential Paris-based art dealership.
Mr Klein said his partner had been ‘extreme in everything she did’ and there was so much more to her than just ‘Catwoman’.
He said Ms Wildenstein was also a philanthropist, supported animal welfare, art, culture, healthcare and education and had even built up her OI Jogi rach in Kenya with animal clinics and schools for African children but ‘didn’t talk about any of this’.
The designer said he wanted people to know what a ‘fabulous’ woman she was.
