34th richest man in France, he disinherited his children: he explains why

However, his assets are estimated at 1.4 billion euros.

His isn't the flashiest or most well-known name among French billionaires. Amidst the likes of Bernard Arnault, Françoise Bettencourt, and Vincent Bolloré, his identity isn't often mentioned. Yet, his brand is well-known: Smartbox. The originator of the concept for these gift boxes is a man from Evreux, whose surname is increasingly making headlines: Pierre-Edouard Stérin.

At 51, the CEO of Smartbox and the investment fund Otium Capital is sitting on a substantial fortune: €1.4 billion, according to the latest assessments by Challenges. Enough to place him in the select circle of French people with assets worth at least 10 figures, ranking ^34th in the rankings released last July by the business magazine. A nest egg to provide a bright future for his five children? Not so fast.

A Belgian resident since 2010 due to tax reasons, Pierre-Edouard Stérin claims to make more donations than he would have to pay in taxes in France. "The less tax I pay, the more I give. I decided to give away all of what I saved, i.e. 300,000 euros per year. My money is thus used more efficiently. The less the State has to do with things, the better," he justified himself to Le Figaro in 2017. Part of his fortune also serves to feed a conservative political-media and philanthropic network, he who defined himself in 2023, still in Le Figaro , as "liberal conservative and patriotic."

But that's not all. The billionaire has also decided to disinherit his children. While this is impossible in France, it is legal in Belgium, if the assets are placed in a foundation. The man who also turned around La Fourchette (now The Fork) during his career explained his decision in a recent interview with the daily newspaper. His goal: not to turn his children into "dirty little bourgeois."

The fifty-year-old assures that he will simply pay for his offspring's studies, he who only wants to transmit "education and values, period." In 2021, he had already confided his choice to Challenges , saying that he had only started in life with 5,000 euros given by his parents. "I don't want to ruin my children, I don't want to give them a cent. It's a real freedom to start with nothing in life. […] They will nevertheless start with the most important thing: education. For the rest, they will manage. They will not inherit anything."