NOT many families can make the Beckhams look like the poor relations.
But when David and Victoria’s eldest 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 Brooklyn, 23, gets hitched to American beauty Nicola Peltz, 27, he will be marrying into money of a different league to that of his parents.
US financier Nelson, father of the bride, is worth £1.3BILLION — almost four times Posh and Becks’ combined £345million — and owns a £76million estate on Florida’s Palm Beach where Brooklyn will say “I do” to Transformers actress Nicola.
The other Peltz pile is a 27-bed mansion just outside New York with its own ice-hockey rink and flock of rare albino peacocks.
All of which makes the £31million London home, £6million Cotswolds retreat and £18million Miami apartment of “Goldenballs” David and Spice Girl turned fashion designer Victoria seem almost, well, modest.
Nelson, 79, also has a seriously big brood — eight 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren with his wife of 35 years Claudia, 65, a former model, and two from a previous relationship.
There is no trouble ferrying everyone around, though. The family own two private jets and a fleet of helicopters — which once had neighbours lodging a formal complaint as they buzzed to and from the New York estate.
But Nelson began his working life as a university dropout, delivering frozen food for his parents’ grocery firm.
KETCHUP SACHETS
Raised in Brooklyn — where his future son-in-law, photographer turned aspiring chef Brooklyn was reportedly conceived — Nelson was schooled in the Bronx but quit college to become a ski instructor.
As a temp at the family firm he soon showed his eye for business — spotting faults in the way it was run and telling his father how it could be done better.
He recalls: “I saw all the opportunities and all the mistakes everybody was making. My father said, ‘If you don’t like it, why don’t you change it?’”
Together with elder brother Robert, he turned the tiny local company into a £115million food business before starting the world’s biggest packaging company, Triangle Industries, which he sold for £650million in 1989.
But it has been his s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 at buying into known brands and sending profits skyward which really accounts for his heaving wallet.
His first big buy was soft-drinks brand Snapple, which he snapped up from Quaker Oats for £230million in 1997 then offloaded for £770million just three years later.
Through his investment house Trian, he has since secured sizeable stakes in Pepsi, Wendy’s, Cadbury and Procter & Gamble — owner of household staples including Olay, Fairy, Ariel and Oral B.
In 2006, he invited Heinz’s then-boss Bill Johnson for a steakhouse dinner and spent the meal moaning about hard-to-open ketchup sachets before telling his dinner guest: “I’m going on your board!”
Johnson later said: “It wasn’t a cordial meeting.”
Once a staunch supporter of Donald Trump, Nelson held a fundraiser for the Republican’s re-election campaign in 2020, charging £470,000 per couple for tickets. But he later withdrew his support after the outgoing US President refused to condemn the riots on Capitol Hill in January last year.
The tycoon is modest about his success, saying: “I don’t know that I’ve achieved anything that spectacular. I don’t know if just making money is a great achievement.”
But he certainly enjoys the trappings of wealth.
Through his investment house Trian, he has since secured sizeable stakes in Pepsi, Wendy’s, Cadbury and Procter & Gamble — owner of household staples including Olay, Fairy, Ariel and Oral B.
Nelson’s home in upstate New York, in the affluent town of Bedford, boasts 130 acres, manicured lawns where the rare peacocks roam, a lake and waterfall, and a professional-quality hockey rink.
The giant walls of his mansion are heaving with priceless art including works by Renoir, Degas and Cezanne — and the house is run by an army of staff including housekeepers, body- guards, maids and gardeners.
From there, Nelson used to commute to his Manhattan office by helicopter — leading to a Nineties lawsuit filed by wealthy neighbours over noise and safety concerns, which he fought for five years before admitting defeat.
He also owns two private jets — including a Boeing 727 — which he uses to travel to meetings around the world.
Montsorrel, his Palm Beach mansion where tomorrow’s £3million wedding will be staged, is a Regency-style wonder with a lead-lined foundation to prevent moisture damage from the Atlantic Ocean on its doorstep.
After buying the place for £76million in 2015, he splashed out on a plot across the road, to build a tennis court, only to find that to get consent to build he first needed a residence there.
To fix this, he built a second mansion for guests — which will come in handy for this weekend’s star-studded nuptials.
But the host with the most has also been kept busy, down the years, by his many 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren.
He spent much of his free time ferrying them to ice rinks for hockey and figure-skating lessons, and says he often watched four ice-hockey matches a day. While Nicola, 27, and brother Will, 35, chose acting careers, 32-year-old son Brad has enjoyed success as a pro ice-hockey player.
Nelson once said: “My kids are exhausted every day, and I keep them that way. It’s gym, ice, homework. They’re too tired to get in trouble.”
A-LISTER GUESTS
He tried to instil a work ethic, despite their privilege. “I don’t want them to see me walking off with a bag of golf clubs over my shoulder,” he said. “If they see me work hard, it’s better than a lecture.”
Nicola’s working life began at age 11, when she appeared in 2006 Christmas movie Deck The Halls. She later starred on US TV in horror series Bates Motel then in 2014 action flick Transformers: Age Of Extinction.
Nicola, who now shares a £7.7million Beverly Hills superpad with Brooklyn, remains close to her dad — and reckons he inspired her Transformers turn.
She says: “My favourite part of the movie, having to do with my character, is the father/daughter relationship because I’m so close with my dad. It’s so important to have a strong dad.”
I don’t want them to see me walking off with a bag of golf clubs over my shoulder. If they see me work hard, it’s better than a lecture.
Nelson Peltz On His Children
While the Peltz family may beat the Beckhams hands down for money, and bricks and mortar, they keep a lower profile than their future in-laws.
Claudia — who Nicola named as her style icon over fashion designer Victoria in a recent interview — makes the odd appearance at Paris fashion shows and benefit dinners but avoids social media.
While Nelson is hosting the wedding, it is England footie legend Becks, and his Posh Spice missus who will pull in the A-list guests — with US rapper Snoop Dogg on DJ duty and Victoria’s former bandmates, and ex-Desperate Housewives siren Eva Longoria, all expected to show their famous faces.
Model Gigi Hadid, superchef Gordon Ramsay and fashion designer/socialite Nicole Richie are also invited — as are Sir Elton John and Liz Hurley, both godparents to Brooklyn’s 19-year-old brother Romeo, although they may miss out owing to touring and filming commitments.
California residents Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are rumoured to be on the list, too, but this has yet to be confirmed.
Romeo and Brooklyn’s other brother, Cruz, 17, will be best men and sister Harper, ten, a bridesmaid alongside Nicola’s gran as maid-of-honour.
Nicola will wear a Valentino dress — despite designer Victoria coming up with several sketches when the wedding was first announced.
Nicola and Brooklyn have been dating since 2017 and Brooklyn announced their engagement in July 2020 with the words: “Two weeks ago I asked my soulmate to marry me and she said yes. I am the luckiest man in the world.”
His fiancée wrote: “I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life by your side.”
But while romance will be in the air tomorrow, the pair have signed a pre-nup agreement to protect their fabulous finances.
With combined family fortunes of £1.65billion, there is plenty at stake.
Source: 9wik.com
