From one of many wealthiest individuals on the planet to ‘flat broke’: How did ‘Catwoman’ Jocelyn Wildenstein lose all her billions as star dies aged 84

Jocelyn Wildenstein was once one of the wealthiest people on the planet after marrying a French-born American billionaire in the 1970s. 

However the late socialite, who was nicknamed Catwoman due to her pronounced cat eyes and leonine features, claimed she was flat broke in 2023 after she was cut off from her $100 million annual divorce settlement. 

The Swiss-born star came from humble origins before she married Alec N. Wildenstein in 1978, who 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 and after Jocelyn and Alec split she became one of the wealthiest people on the planet. 

The pair divorced in 1999 and the financial settlement left her with more than $2 billion, plus millions more annually.

Although he filed for divorce in Switzerland, where Jocelyn was less likely to get a significant divorce settlement, she ended up receiving what should have been a windfall — a reported $2.5 billion.

On top of that, she was to be paid $100 million per year for 13 years by her ex-husband, and later his estate following his death in 2008 at 67.

However, her ex-husband’s family cut off the payments in 2015 and despite obtaining more wealth than most people could ever imagine, Jocelyn managed to fritter it away through extravagant purchases on plastic surgery, clothing, jewels, art and even tens of thousands of dollars in annual phone bills. 

In 2018 she filed for bankruptcy. 

At the time, The Sunday Times reported, Jocelyn listed her checking account balance as ‘$0’ despite still having millions of dollars in assets — most of which was property.

Her three luxury apartments at Trump Tower were also repossessed.

She claimed to Page Six that the vast majority of her wealth disappeared because one of the paintings that was part of the trust set up for her in the divorce settlement, attributed to Diego Velázquez, turned out to be a forgery. 

Meanwhile a Cézanne that was expected to go for around $35 on auction only sold for $4.7 million.

In June 2023, Jocelyn claimed she was flat broke after not having any income for eight years after her ex-husband’s family cut her of from her $100million annual divorce settlement. 

‘I have a huge problem with my settlement,’ she told The Sunday Times, ‘Since eight years, they have completely cut me off.’

Claiming she had no money she added: ‘Zero — nothing in eight years.’

Jocelyn also spent her money on numerous cosmetic surgeries and was completely unrecognisable by the 1990s.   

They left her with slanted cat eyes, a prominent chin and exaggerated cheek bones, which some have compared to a lion’s face.

Despite the obvious change in her appearance, she at one time bizarrely claimed to have never had plastic surgery and said her looks came from her Swiss heritage. 

However her ex husband Alec insisted she had had work done as she 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 2018 when asked if she had undergone surgery Jocelyn replied: ‘No, especially when we look back at my pictures – I think of course I am maybe more beautiful [back then]. 

More recently she owned up to having some procedures, though she downplayed its impact.

‘I haven’t had plastic surgery, I am scared of what can happen and I don’t like to have something heavy, sometimes it is a bit heavy and terrible,’ she told The Sun in November.

She also said that she hadn’t had any fillers and had heard unfortunate stories from those who have.

‘I don’t like the Botox,’ she said, before adding: ‘Everyone has a different reaction to it.

‘I have had Botox only twice. I don’t know if I am allergic, but when I had it, it did not go well with me. It was not a good result, my face swelled up.’

Following her divorce, Jocelyn began dating the fashion designer Lloyd Klein in 2003.

Jocelyn passed away on Tuesday in Paris from a pulmonary embolism.

The star was taking a nap in a Parisian palace at the time of her death, it was reported by Paris Match.

‘Her partner Lloyd Klein is saddened to announce the death of Jocelyn Wildenstein in Paris,’ it was shared by AFP. 

She was last seen looking healthy on December 18 in Paris when with Klein.