As the fashion world continues to mourn the loss of prolific designer and Chanel creative director Karl Lagerfeld, who died Tuesday at the age of 85, attention has also turned to an heiress of his estimated $195 million to $300 million fortune: Choupette Lagerfeld, the style icon’s beloved Birman cat.
“Don’t worry, there is enough for everyone,” the human Lagerfeld said in an interview with Numéro last year, confirming that Choupette would inherit a chunk of his estate. “Among others.”
Already used to a pampered life, Choupette had two personal maids, ate dinners of caviar and chicken pâté at the table off of designer dishes, and traveled on private jets.
But the loved pet also earned her keep.
Any of Choupette’s inheritance would be in addition to the humble nest egg that the cat has accumulated on her own. In an interview with the Cut, a proud Lagerfeld boasted that Choupette had already earned $3 million off of two modeling gigs—one for a Japanese beauty product, and another for German automaker Opel Corsa’s 2015 calendar (which featured Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell in 1992).
“Choupette did a great job,” Lagerfeld told the Telegraph. “Just as I would expect from a star.”
For those wondering if Choupette will be unable to receive the inheritance given that France, where the pair resided, doesn’t allow money to be passed down to pets, as Lagerfeld explained to Numéro, “Well it’s lucky I’m not French then.”
Lagerfeld is a German citizen. And as CBS reports, German law does allow animals to be the beneficiaries of inherited wealth.
To be the richest cat in the world, Choupette’s inheritance would have to exceed that of a British cat named Blackie, who NBC reports received 7 million pounds ($9.15 million) from his owners’ will in 1988.
However she may never be the richest animal to have ever existed. That title goes to a German Shepherd (from Germany) named Gunther IV who USA Today reports inherited $375 million from his owner.
