French Actor Gérard Depardieu Under Tax Probe Over Winery Holdings in Belgium

Gérard Depardieu, a French actor, received Russian citizenship in 2013. He has transferred virtually all control of his famous French winery, Château de Tigné, to a Belgian holding company. The actor purchased the château and vineyards in Anjou in 1989. By 2026, the Belgian structure effectively controls the winery, though the vineyards themselves remain owned by French companies.

The transfer involved stakes in nine French companies valued at around €12.3 million. French investigators are currently examining whether the actor's center of life and economic interests was genuinely located in Belgium or if the corporate move was primarily on paper. The potential annual savings on French wealth tax alone could have reached €550,000.