His health had been in decline for several years. Jean-Marie Le Pen, figure of the French far-right and former president of the National Front, died this Tuesday January 7, 2025announced his family to AFP.
“Jean-Marie Le Pen, surrounded by his family, was called back to God this Tuesday at 12 p.m.”, his relatives said in a statement.
Died in Garches at the age of 96, Marine Le Pen’s father leaves behind a fortune estimated at several million euros. A jackpot that he owes in particular to a large inheritance received in 1976, following the death of Hubert Lambert, himself heir to the cement company Lambert Frères et Cie.
A surprise inheritance worth 6 million euros
Coming from a modest family, Jean-Marie Le Pen was not destined to live in opulence. However, a meeting that occurred in the 1970s made him a rich man.
While he was only a rising figure on the French far right, Le Pen crossed paths with Hubert Lambert, heir to a company specializing in cement and political patron. Completely fascinated by the man the far-right called “Panpan”, Lambert made him his sole executor and heir.
On September 24, 1976, Hubert Lambert died at the age of 42. He then left Le Pen an inheritance estimated at the time between 30 and 40 million francs (around 6 million euros), as well as a Napoleon III style residence in Saint-Cloud, in the Montretout park.
A large real estate and financial heritage
In addition to this inheritance, Jean-Marie Le Pen amassed numerous assets during his life. Among them, a family home located in La Trinité-sur-Mer estimated at 1 million euros as well as shares in various real estate companies (SCI). In particular, he had shares in the SCI du Pavillon de l’écuyer, owner of the Montretout estate, and the SCI Clergerie Hugo, formerly owner of the FN headquarters in Saint-Cloud.
Furthermore, Jean-Marie Le Pen would have detained a large quantity of gold in Switzerland. In 2015, the High Authority for Transparency in Public Life (HATVP) revealed the existence of an account containing the sum of 2.2 million euros, including 1.7 million in the form of gold bars and coins.
Following this discovery, Jean-Marie Le Pen and his daughter Marine were suspected of undervaluing their assets. Suspicions focused on gold, but also on the value of their real estate.
Three heiresses, including Marine Le Pen
Due to these suspicions, the exact value of Jean-Marie Le Pen’s fortune remains unknown. It could reach several tens of millions of euros, which will be distributed equally to his three heirs. Indeed, Jean-Marie Le Pen died,
it is his three daughters who will inherit his fortune: Marie-Caroline, Yann and Marine Le Pen, from his union with Pierrette Lalanne.
