A Millennial Harvard graduate and scion to the Chanel fortune has quietly been given a top job to look after his family’s $90 billion empire.
Arthur Heilbronn, 38, filled the director role at Mousse Partners earlier this year, which manages his relatives’ real estate and banking investments, according to filings reviewed by Bloomberg.
Heilbronn, who lives in a plush high-rise $19.5 million Park Avenue apartment, took the spot of veteran Chanel executive Michael Rena who died on November 2, 2024 at the age of 85.
He formally worked as a Goldman Sachs banker and recently married his wife Danielle Heilbronn in July 2020, according to a registry site.
The new boss is the son of Charles Heilbronn, the founder of Mousse and chairman of the firm since 1991. Mousse serves to manage the Wertheimer family’s wealth.
Charles’ half-brothers are Alain and Gerard Wertheimer, who are both third-generation heirs to the French luxury fashion brand Chanel.
The Wertheimers are the grandsons of Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel, one of the original business partners of the fashion house.
They share the same mother as Charles, Elaine Heilbronn, who died last year. Elaine was known as the matriarch of the Chanel empire. All of her sons are in their 70s.
Each of the Wertheimers have a net worth of approximately $45 billion as they all hold equal shares in Chanel, per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Although Gerard’s son David, Arthur’s cousin, has gone on to start his own private equity venture, there is no indication other children of the two heirs are involved with Mousse.
Heilbronn’s new title appears to indicate succession plans for the company, which largely stays out of the media and keeps its wealth under wraps.
‘We’re a very discreet family,’ Gerard previously said in 2001, Bloomberg reported. ‘We never talk.’
Marc Debois, the founder of FO- Next, an advisory firm for family offices, told the outlet how the rich family appears to handle their highly successful business.
‘They feel less like a family office and more like a private endowment for a luxury empire,’ Debois said of Mousse.
Heilbronn joined the family business as a director of Mousse in 2019. He was soon promoted to managing director a few years later, per his LinkedIn profile.
Noting his ascent to power, in 2025 he was promoted again to director of Mousse’s Luxembourg holding company.
He attended the University of Pennsylvania from 2004 to 2008, graduating with his bachelor’s degree in philosophy, politics and economics, Magna Cum Laude.
The Chanel scion then went on to Harvard Business School from 2012 to 2014, obtaining his Master’s in business administration, his profile detailed.
Along with his new role, Heilbronn is also the co-head of private equity and venture direct investing at Mousse, along with Paul Yun.
In 2023, he was named to the supervisory board of Rothschild & Co., one of the world’s largest independent financial services groups.
That title was given to him after Mousse Partners made one of its high-profile investments ever by joining two other French dynasties that year in an effort to help take the bank private, Bloomberg reported.
Chanel’s holding company is Mousse Investments Ltd., based in the Cayman Islands.
Meanwhile, Mousse Partners is the luxury brand’s investment division that has offices in Hong Kong and Beijing.
Although Mousse Investments does not reveal financial numbers, some companies have named it as a shareholder or participant in deals.
That means the company could have investments in real estate, stocks, credit and private equity.
Mousse Partners has hired more than three dozen employees across the world, including banking analysts from Wells Fargo & Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co.
The company has backed several startups over the years, including Brightside Health, a mental health provider, and Brandtech Group, a digital advertising firm.
Mousse Partners also has roots in the food company Harmless Harvest, the biotechnology company Evolved by Nature, and Thirty Madison, a healthcare provider.
And just last year, the investment firm joined L’Oreal SA heiress, investing in The Row, a high-end clothing brand.
Mousse has also invested in France’s audiovisual and publishing industry for decades, per the report.
Despite Mousse not being involved in Chanel’s operations, both companies have offices near New York’s Central Park.
Daily Mail contacted Chanel and Mousse Partners for comment.