A three-year-old family office backed by Europe’s wealthiest clan is quietly laying the groundwork for acquiring additional assets outside their luxury behemoth, Hermes International SCA.
An Hermes store in Arizona, US – Hermès
Krefeld, named after the town in Germany where ancestor Thierry Hermes was born, has created a separate company called Breithorn Holding that can oversee fund and asset management, according to a filing. Charles-Henri Chaliac, 49, who heads the family office, will also serve as the new firm’s chief executive officer.
The move signals the growing ambitions of the family office created in 2022 by descendants from different branches of the sprawling dynasty. In the aftermath of fighting off a 2010 takeover attempt by LVMH founder and rival Bernard Arnault, the heirs pooled their separate investment vehicles into what has emerged as Krefeld. Reflecting the clan’s penchant for discretion, the family office has remained secretive about operations, management, and strategy since then.
Krefeld has so far made few investment announcements, one of the first being in French insurer Albingia. The family office also took a minority stake in closely held Anjac Health & Beauty alongside KKR & Co., Les Echos reported. A spokesperson for Hermes didn’t respond to requests for comment about Krefeld.
The more than 100 heirs to the Hermes fortune have a combined net worth of $186 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, making them the richest family in Europe. With a stake of around 67% in the listed company, they have pocketed €5.1 billion ($5.9 billion) in dividends for the past four record-breaking years, giving Krefeld firepower for investments.
With Krefeld, the Hermes descendants joined other ultra-wealthy French clans with family offices including Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, the billionaire L’Oreal heiress, who has Tethys; the Wertheimer brothers behind Chanel, with Mousse Partners; and Arnault, who invests through closely held Agache among other vehicles.
There are few public details about Krefeld and its new offshoot, Breithorn, which are based at the same address in central Paris.
Krefeld has raised its maximum authorised capital to €1 billion and its statutes stipulate that shareholders can only be descendants of Emile Maurice Hermes, who expanded the Parisian harness workshop started in 1837 by his grandfather, Thierry, into leather goods and baggage lines. Today, Hermes is best known for pricey handbags, silk scarves, and high-end fashion, having reported €15 billion in sales last year.
Krefeld, which is charged with investing the personal wealth of its Hermes backers, is chaired by Matthieu Dumas and the board populated by heirs with surnames including Bauer, de Seynes, Guerrand, and Mommeja. Chaliac joined last year from Belgian private equity firm Cobepa, while Claire Zeng moved to Krefeld in 2024 from Morgan Stanley, according to a LinkedIn post.
