Swiss socialite Jocelyn Wildenstein passed away suddenly on New Year’s Eve aged 84.
From modest beginnings, she rose to become one of the wealthiest individuals globally following her separation from the French-American billionaire, Alec Wildenstein.
The couple married in the 1970s and had two children called Diane and Alec Jr.
In recent years, Alec Jr. garnered significant media attention when he was convicted of tax evasion in March 2024 and received a two-year suspended prison sentence.
In November 2023, Jocelyn shared an undated throwback snap where she was seen holding both Diane and Alec Jr as toddlers.
Under a photograph portraying Jocelyn prior to her remarkable change, she penned, ‘My daughter Diane and my son Alec Jr., my cherished family memories ❤️.’
Swiss socialite Jocelyn Wildenstein passed away suddenly on New Year’s Eve aged 84, leaving behind daughter Diane and son Alec Jr
In November 2023, Jocelyn shared an undated throwback snap where she was seen holding both Diane and Alec Jr as toddlers
Jocelyn, nicknamed Catwoman because she reportedly had many facial cosmetic procedures in the hopes of resembling a cat, died in Paris from a pulmonary embolism while taking a nap.
Jocelyn developed an interest in hunting and wildlife, which led her to the Wildenstein family ranch Ol Jogi, located in Kenya. There, she was introduced on a safari to ex-husband Alec Sr by Adnan Khashoggi, a Saudi arms dealer.
In adulthood, the couple’s son Alec Jr went on to run Ol Jogi, and Jocelyn shared throwback of him in September 2023.
‘The Wildenstein Dynasty,’ she wrote. ‘My Son Alec Jr #oljogi.’
Alec Jr came under fire in 2016 as he was embroiled in a tax evasion court case alongside his uncle Guy Wildenstein.
Both were accused of hiding the Wildenstein family fortune in an off-shore tax shelter.
Also an art dealer, Alec Sr’s brother Guy was acquitted after trials in 2017 and 2018 as judges ruled that since his father, Daniel, and older brother had died, he wasn’t legally obliged to declare his foreign assets.
But in 2014, France’s highest court cancelled those exonerations, and Guy faced a retrial. His brother Alec Sr’s son, Alec Jr, was a co-defendant in the case, alongside his widow, Liouba Stoupakova. Guy was found guilty in March 2024 and handed a four year prison sentence, of which two were suspended and he was allowed to serve the other two at home.
Jocelyn had two children with her ex-husband Alec Wildenstein, called Diane and Alec Jr
Jocelyn came from humble origins but became one of the wealthiest people on the planet after her divorce from French-born American billionaire called Alec Wildenstein (Pictured), who she married in the 1970s
In adulthood, the couple’s son Alec Jr went on to run the Wildenstein Kenyan family ranch Ol Jogi, and Jocelyn shared throwback of him in September 2023
‘The Wildenstein Dynasty,’ she wrote. ‘My Son Alec Jr #oljogi’
Meanwhile Alec Jr received a two-year suspended sentence and was fined €37,500.
Guy’s son David spoke to Tatler in 2016 and revealed that he and Alec Jr were very close, as they were born just six months apart and grew up together.
‘We’re like brothers,’ David said. ‘The bond in the family is between him and me. We did a lot of things together, got into a lot of trouble together [as kids]. We’re very similar in terms of how we think.’
David went on to add that Alec ‘loves nature’ and is ‘very into flying, he’s an amazing pilot.’
Meanwhile Jocelyn and Alec Sr’s daughter Diane lives in London and breeds horses, in-keeping with another of the Wildenstein family ventures, The Times reported.
However unlike Alec Jr and his cousin, Diane was the oldest of the children on both sides and was not close to her female cousins due to the age gap, David said.
Jocelyn has previously revealed both Diane and Alec Jr were estranged from her.
Alec Jr came under fire in 2016 as he was embroiled in a tax evasion court case alongside his uncle Guy Wildenstein (Pictured together at court)
Meanwhile Jocelyn and Alec Sr’s daughter Diane lives in London where she breeds horses
Jocelyn has previously revealed both Diane and Alec Jr were estranged from her (Pictured in 1998)
Of her meeting with ex-husband Alec Sr, Jocelyn recalled how he decided to kill a lion that had been killing nearby antelope, so she accompanied him on a pre-dawn mission.
She recounted how, after her future husband took down the lion with one shot – plus a second for good measure – they ate part of the animal as a kind of trophy and rubbed its blood on their necks.
‘You must eat a part of the heart of your game,’ she said. ‘It’s legend. Maybe to take the power of the lion.’
Alec previously commented on Jocelyn’s dramatic transformation. He told Vanity Fair, ‘She was crazy. I would always find out last. She was thinking that she could fix her face like a piece of furniture. Skin does not work that way. But she wouldn’t listen.’
Jocelyn fired back that he ‘hired a publicist and paid a plastic surgeon to certify that I completely changed my face’ to win the divorce, she stated.
In the wake of years of reported over-the-top spending and seemingly unending cosmetic procedures, Alec filed for divorce in 1999, though Jocelyn has said she was the one to first decide to end the marriage due to her husband’s infidelities.
Jocelyn became one of the wealthiest people on the planet after her divorce settlement, which left her with more than $2 billion plus millions more annually.
Jocelyne became one of the wealthiest people on the planet after her divorce settlement, which left her with more than $2 billion plus millions more annually (Pictured in 2022)
But she somehow managed to lose it all after years of tinkering with her face and spending on countless luxuries.
The star, born Jocelyn Périsset, was taking a nap in a Parisian palace at the time of her death on Tuesday, it was reported by Paris Match.
‘Her partner Lloyd Klein is saddened to announce the death of Jocelyne Wildenstein in Paris,’ it was shared by AFP.
She was last seen looking healthy on December 18 in Paris when with Klein.
The star smiled at onlookers while in a fur jacket, leggings and boots as she wore black sunglasses and her blonde hair in soft waves over her shoulders.
She was nicknamed Catwoman due to her pronounced cat eyes and leonine features and she had over one million Instagram followers and described herself as an ‘art dealer.’
