The Rich Life Of Nicola Peltz
Many of our favorite celebrities sure seem to live a cushy life. After all, the string of films and shows they've worked hard on have afforded them the privileges they have today. But just like in any other industry, some were already wealthy to begin with because they were born filthy rich.
Armie Hammer is a prime example. His given name is Armand, as he was named after his grandfather Armand Sr., the former chairman of Occidental Petroleum — which was at one point the largest independent oil company in the world. In Hammer's early years, he even lived in the Cayman Islands, Renowned journalist Anderson Cooper also comes from money, as he is the son of Gloria Vanderbilt, making him a direct descendant of business magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt. And the list goes on.
These days, celebrities and other public figures who were born into wealth are branded with the title "nepo baby," as people argue that they rarely had to work for their success. One of them happens to be actor Nicola Peltz, wife to another so-called fellow nepotism baby Brooklyn Beckham. But how rich is her family?
Nicola Peltz's father is a billionaire
Brooklyn Beckham is rich thanks to his superstar parents Victoria and David Beckham. But his wife, actor Nicola Peltz, comes from an even wealthier family. Like, way wealthier. That's because her parents, investor Nelson Peltz and model Claudia Heffner Peltz, have quite the fortune. According to Forbes, Nelson was worth $1.5 billion as of March 2023.
Given the amount of money floating around between the two families, it should not come as a surprise that Nicola and Brooklyn reportedly signed a prenuptial agreement before making their way down the aisle in April 2022. At the time, the Daily Mail reported the couple signed "the mother and father of all prenups." And according to the outlet, they apparently got the prenup matters totally squared away all of the way back in 2020. And while marrying into an incredibly famous celebrity family might intimidate the average person, that was not the case for Nicola; the spotlight may be new, but the lap of luxury is old hat. "I just live my life how I always have," she told Grazia in 2022.
How Nelson Peltz made his fortune
Nicola Peltz Beckham's father, Nelson Peltz, sure is rich, and the road he took to get to that point was a bit unconventional. He dropped out of college after just one year because wanted to spend his time skiing. "I was quite bored at Wharton," he told Bloomberg. "I felt that was the wrong place. What I really wanted to do was ski."
So how did the college dropout amass literally billions of dollars? It was a combination of drive, business acumen, a little help from his family, and years of squirreling money. He also went to work for his father's business, a produce and food distribution company, a move that would prove to be rather fruitful. After acquiring other food companies under the name Flagstaff Corp., the company went public. In 2005, Nelson founded Trian Fund Management, an investment firm with stakes in Bank of New York Mellon, Kraft Heinz Co., and Procter & Gamble Co., among others. The firm manages a whopping $8.5 billion in assets. Some of his other business moves over the years include acquiring Snapple for $300 million in the late '90s and then selling it for over $1 billion just three years later. Not a bad profit.
The Peltz family is serious about ice hockey
As evidenced by Nelson Peltz's affinity for skiing, winter sports are a big part of the Peltz family. In fact, before the acting bug bit her when she was a tween, Nicola Peltz Beckham planned to pursue a life on the rink. "I grew up playing ice hockey and I thought I was going to be a professional girls ice hockey player," the actor told Vanity Fair.
But Nicola was not the only Peltz sibling who aspired to become a star on the ice. Her brother Brad Peltz played hockey throughout high school and while attending Yale and was drafted by the Ottawa Senators in 2009.
Nicola's younger brothers, twins Zachary and Gregory, both play hockey as well. Gregory was scooped up by the Boston Jr. Bruins and Zachary landed on the team at Mount St. Charles Academy. Nicola's sister is no stranger to lacing up skates either. Although not a hockey enthusiast, Brittany Peltz Buerstedde also grew up on the ice. She was a competitive figure skater whose promising career was cut short by multiple injuries.
Nicola Peltz's brothers found success in business and finance
Three of Nicola Peltz Beckham's brothers followed in their father's footsteps and pursued careers in the world of business and finance. Matthew Peltz worked as an investment banking analyst at Goldman Sachs after graduating from Yale. He went on to join his dad at Trian Fund Management and in 2013 found himself on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for finance.
Brad Peltz attended Yale as well, graduating with a degree in political science. However, he ended up pursuing business in lieu of politics, founding the healthcare scheduling startup Mymo in 2016. According to Brad's LinkedIn, his chronic illness led him to launch the company. Per his profile, "Brad founded Mymo after multiple extended hospital stays, which showed numerous fractures in the healthcare delivery continuum."
Diesel Peltz dropped out of NYU in 2015 and co-founded an app called Twenty. Business can create odd collaborations: As Forbes noted, Nelson Peltz and DJ Khaled helped get the app off the ground. It eventually merged with Mappen in 2019, landing Diesel on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for consumer technology.
Nicola Peltz's sister excels in the world of fashion
Nicola Peltz Beckham's older sister, Brittany Peltz Buerstedde, has used her entrepreneurial talents and channeled them into the world of fashion. The former ice skater attended NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and aspired to become a designer. Buerstedde told WWD that family friend Vera Wang gave her some advice that might have been discouraging: "I remember telling her that I wanted to be a dress designer from a young age and she was like 'Honey, you don't make any money in that business...you make it on the perfume.'"
But Buerstedde was undeterred. After starting a family, she created the children's clothing line Leah + Rae, which was inspired by her own daughters. "I'm really inspired by the girls and by children's natural beauty and how pure they are. I think the clothes should play off of that rather than distract from it," she told WWD.
During the pandemic, Buerstedde expanded her design venture to create the online lifestyle boutique SENA Lifestyle Studio, which offers everything from smoothies to jewelry to home design pieces. "All the pieces on the e-boutique are ones that I would personally use in my own home for myself, my family, or a client," Buerstedde explained to Aventura Magazine.
Nicola Peltz's brother Will is an actor and model
Nicola Peltz Beckham might have the most in common career-wise with her older brother Will Peltz. He is an actor who has appeared in series such as "Euphoria" and "Manifest," as well as films such as Netflix's "Sierra Burgess is a Loser." Oh, and like Nicola, he had a role in the miniseries "Welcome to Chippendales."
It seems beauty, as well as business, runs in the Peltz family. Following in the footsteps of his mother, former model Claudia Heffner, Will has graced the runways of major fashion houses, including Celine, Dior, Stella McCartney, and Zadig & Voltaire. Will has said that modeling is not that different from the craft of acting, telling Vogue, "Even when I walk in fashion shows, I'm acting in the sense that I change my entire look and vibe to fit the brand that I'm wearing."
But Will admits the runway can be a daunting place. "You only have around 30 seconds or so to get it right. You have to make your walk convincing and make the clothes look damn good—but it's so gratifying when you're off the catwalk," he said in Vogue. "The only thing I wish is that those walks lasted longer."
Nelson Peltz's legal drama with Nicola's former wedding planners
In April 2022, Nicola Peltz Beckham and Brooklyn Beckham were married in a ceremony held at her parents' estate Palm Beach, Florida. The bride and groom looked gorgeous (no surprises here), and the guest list was star-studded, with Eva Longoria, Gordon Ramsay, Serena Williams, and many others in attendance (again, no surprises). But while the wedding itself was lovely, there was behind-the-scenes drama that led to legal action.
As reported by Us Weekly, Nicola's father, Nelson Peltz, filed a lawsuit against her wedding planners Plan Design Events citing that the deposit he put down for the services were never returned. Plan Design Events and wedding planners Arianna Grijalba and Nicole Bragin were reportedly replaced just nine days into the planning process because, according to the lawsuit, they misrepresented themselves "regarding their experience, expertise and capability of planning the wedding."
Plan Design Events hit back with a countersuit citing breach of contract, naming Nicola and her mother, Claudia Heffner, as third parties in the suit. But Papa Peltz was having none of that. In March 2023, Nelson Peltz filed to remove his wife and daughter from the proceedings. Per People, a document from his lawyers states in part, "PDE shamefully attempts to falsely portray Nicola in an extremely negative light to entice the media and hopefully pressure Mr. Peltz to dismiss his well-founded claims against PDE. While this was tailor-made for the tabloids, it could not be further from the truth." Time will tell who will prevail in this case.
Nelson Peltz has supported Donald Trump
Nicola Peltz Beckham's father, like other billionaires, was a vocal supporter of Donald Trump during his 2020 run for president. "He's been my man through the last four years, because he's done amazing things for the economy," he said. "In terms of trade, I couldn't agree more with him," Peltz told CNBC during an interview.
However, in light of the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, Peltz seemed to regret throwing his support behind Trump. He told CNBC the next day, "What happened yesterday is a disgrace. As an American, I'm embarrassed," adding, "I didn't vote for Trump in '16. I voted for him in this past election in November. Today, I'm sorry I did that."
The insurrection, as well as Trump's reaction to President Joe Biden's win in 2020, was appalling as far as Peltz was concerned, and he made his feelings known. "[Trump] could have accepted the results. He could have offered his friendship, his support and his help for a transition to Biden," he said on CNBC. The businessman went on to suggest that he probably would've stayed in Trump's corner had he handled the election results differently. "[W]e had people shooting at each other in Congress," Peltz said. "[H]ow could you say that is anything but his legacy?"
Nicola Peltz's family's homes are impressive
Nicola Peltz Beckham's family estates are lavish, to say the least. The Peltz home in Palm Beach, Florida, is known as Montsorrel, and it is pure luxury. According to Architectural Digest, the property boasts 27 bedrooms, sits on 13 acres, and has its own private beach. It was originally built by Anita Young, the sister of artist Georgia O'Keefe, and sold to the Peltzes in 1987 for $18 million. It is now reportedly worth $103 million.
The Peltz family also owns a sprawling mansion in Bedford, New York, called High Winds. The estate's long list of lavish amenities and features reportedly includes an indoor ice hockey rink (naturally) and even a flock of peacocks. And in the late '90s, Nicola's parents made a record-setting purchase when they shelled out $20 million on a house in Westchester that once belonged to Mariah Carey and Tommy Mattola. However, the home burned down before the Peltzes moved in, and in 2022, The Dirt reported they'd put the land on the market for half of what they paid.
And those are only the parents' properties. With so many children in the family, and all of them successful, we're sure all of the Peltz abodes are to die for. Still, a trip home every now and then to one of mom and dad's luxury homes must be pretty nice.