Krefeld, the three-year-old family office backed by descendants of the Hermès family, is quietly preparing to expand its portfolio beyond its holdings in Hermès International. .
According to recent filings seen by Spear’s, the family office has set up a new company, Breithorn Holding, to oversee asset and fund management on a broader scale.
Charles-Henri Chaliac, a former executive at Belgian private equity firm Cobepa who already heads Krefeld, will also serve as chief executive of the new company.
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The establishment of Breithorn Holding marks a new phase for Krefeld as the family office signals its intention to expand beyond its traditional luxury holdings.
Krefeld itself emerged from the consolidation of eight separate family offices and investment vehicles, uniting the fortunes of different branches of the Hermès dynasty. The move followed the heirs’ successful defence against a 2010 takeover attempt by Bernard Arnault and forms part of their current strategy to create a single entity to oversee and grow their collective wealth.
Since its creation in 2022, the family office has maintained a notably low profile, keeping details of its operations, management and strategic plans largely under wraps.
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Public disclosures of Krefeld’s investments have been rare, but there have long been hints that the office is quietly seeking to broaden its portfolio beyond luxury. French insurer Albingia, revealed last year, is one of the first public signs of this strategy, and the family office also took a minority stake in Anjac Health & Beauty alongside KKR & Co.
According to filings with the Registre National des Entreprises, the French official registrar for limited companies, Krefeld and its new offshoot Breithorn share the same Paris address.
Documents also show that the family office has raised its maximum capital to €1 billion, with ownership remaining limited to Hermès descendants, while the board combines family members with seasoned executives including Chaliac and Claire Zeng.
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According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the more than 100 descendants of the Hermès family are now the richest in Europe, with a combined fortune of $186 billion. Their roughly 67 per cent stake in the luxury group has brought in billions in dividends over the past four years, giving Krefeld a deep pool of capital to explore new investments.
Krefeld’s birth marked the Hermès heirs’s entry in a tight-knit group of France’s wealthiest families, alongside L’Oréal heiress Bettencourt Meyers, the Chanel-owning Wertheimer brothers, and Bernard Arnault, all of whom run their fortunes through private family offices.
