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Tara Patel and Ania Nussbaum
French billionaire Pierre-Edouard Sterin, who has stirred controversy over his right-wing politics, is pleading with lawmakers to modify rules so he can disinherit his five children, saying he prefers to give his fortune to charity.
“I would like to give my entire estate to philanthropic causes,” the businessman told senators on Thursday during a public hearing, noting that under French law three quarters of his assets would have to be passed down to his offspring. “I’m in favour of being able to do whatever one wants to do with one’s patrimony.”
French succession rules stem in part from Napoleonic law and include so-called forced heirship, whereby children are protected and assets generally can’t be passed down according to a person’s will. It’s a common concept in civil law jurisdictions across Europe, but not in places such as the US and England.
Sterin made his appeal before a committee examining private sector financing and influence on public policymaking. His appearance via video link came a year after he had angered deputies in the country’s lower house, the National Assembly, for failing to show up for another hearing, citing death threats and security risks.
The 52-year-old tax exile, who lives in Belgium, has stoked intense debate in France in recent years over his backing of philanthropic and political outfits, some of which are linked to causes put forward by the far-right. Sterin said that he hopes his actions will help put France on a more right-wing, economically liberal and conservative path.
Sterin has been labelled the “French Elon Musk” and famously ranks people in his life on a scale of one to ten on a dedicated Excel spreadsheet. Moneyweek reported that he ranked his now-wife Amandine on a strict set of marriageability criteria before proposing.
He told senators he’s “at the centre of the right,” but on immigration he was more extreme than the far-right National Rally, whose leaders Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella are leading in the polls ahead of next year’s presidential election. Sterin, however, has ties to the RN party via François Durvye, the former chief executive officer of his family office Otium Capital.
“I am in favour of the re-migration of foreigners who are delinquent, undocumented or without jobs for more than 12 months,” Sterin said.
He declined to speak on his stance against abortion, which has put him at odds with Le Pen, who has backed the enshrining in the French constitution of a woman’s freedom to seek one.
Sterin has a net worth of about €1.4 billion ($1.6 billion), according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a calculation based on the net asset value of his portfolio of investments held through Otium.
The fortune is rooted in gift voucher company Smartbox, which Sterin says he built up from a small franchise he had acquired using €5000 from his parents. He has diversified through startups and private equity investments including Hadrena, an operator of leisure centres like Speedpark and Kids Empire.
Otium announced in April the sale of a majority stake in Dossier, the US brand of affordable designer-perfume dupes that sell at Walmart stores and online.
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