At age 84, Jocelyn Wildenstein has marked the first celebrity death of 2025, just days after trending on social media thanks to a resurfaced clip that had people outraged and downright confused.
Twenty-five years ago, the “Catwoman” became famous for her extreme looks and her staggering divorce settlement. The socialite from Switzerland received $2.5 billion from her art dealer ex-husband Alec when they divorced in the late 1990s, with an extra $100 million a year for thirteen years. It remains one of the biggest divorce payouts in history, second only to Jeff Bezos and Mackenzie Scott at $38 billion.
It has been reported that on New Year’s Eve Wildenstein died of a pulmonary embolism in Paris. An “icon is gone,” her partner Lloyd Klein said in a statement on Wednesday, Jan. 1.
Despite having more cash than the GDP of many countries, the 84-year-old has claimed for years that she is broke and penniless.
In a recently resurfaced interview with “7 News Spotlight,” which is making the rounds on social media, the former billionaire described living off of $900 per month in social security despite having more cash than the GDP of many countries. This confused a whole new generation.
In the sit-down which originally aired in August 2018, Jocelyn likened the extremes in her life to changes in the weather, with some “cloudy” days and “blue sky,” she said with a wave of her hand, seemingly unbothered. She added, “I still have real estate and things like this.”
Her dubious claims of being poor are now under a new layer of scrutiny online. Over on X, one person pointed out, “The fact that she’s even milking social security is repulsive. There should be a cap on who can draw social security.”
“Billion with a “B”?! She blew $2.5 BILLION?!? I’m actually stunned because it’s probably all in her face,” wrote an observer on Instagram, followed by another who joked, “She need to dispute all them surgeries n get her money back!! start there 1st.”
Other Instagram users were quick to point out that she’s “rich people broke,” which is far different from normal people broke. “She said her lawyers are taking care of her. So she’s not broke, she rich people broke. Sometimes rich people claim bankruptcy to avoid paying tax and other bills.”
“Like all said in Cartier come on. Do ya thing sis!” quipped another. “She claimed billions after her divorce with her husband cheated on her with a much younger woman! She even turned herself into the cat woman after she found out her husband was fascinated with wild cats! I’d like to know who her financial advisors are just so I can avoid at all cost$$$$$$$!” exclaimed another.
Jocelyn and her art dealer ex-husband Alec met on a safari in Kenya in 1977 and eloped to Las Vegas a year later. Soon after marrying, she began spending millions to look more feline to please her husband, who had a penchant for wild cats. She even owned a “pet” lynx, once telling “Vanity Fair” that “the lynx has perfect eyes.”
Twenty years and many surgeries later, she caught her husband cheating with 21-year-old Russian model Yelena Jarikova in 1997. Two years later the couple completed a contentious divore, As part of her settlement, the judge stipulated that she could not use any of her divorce payments to have further cosmetic surgeries.
After reportedly losing three apartments in Trump Tower in 2020, filing for bankruptcy in 2018, and blowing through unfathomable sums on a lavish lifestyle, she lived in Miami with her long-time partner, French fashion designer Lloyd Klein.
The couple had a tumultuous off-and-on relationship since the early 2000s but were engaged and spending the holidays in Paris before Wildenstein’s passing.
Still, Wildenstein blamed the family of her ex-husband for her financial ruin, claiming they cut her off from her divorce maintenance in 2015, telling reporters at one point that she was unable to travel or even buy food.
