Dominique Tapie, the widow of Bernard Tapie who must repay the debt of some €600 million from her late husband, is now ruined, as revealed by an investigation published by Paris Match, AFP reports.
In 1986, Bernard Tapie bought the Hôtel de Cavoye, a luxurious building located in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, from fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy. At the time, the businessman intended to expose his success to the eyes of the Parisian establishment.
36 years later, his widow Dominique Tapie is asked to leave, cornered by the debts of her late husband, which are estimated today at €600 million.
“He left as he lived”
According to the report by BFMTV, four months after the death of Bernard Tapie , Dominique Tapie is “ruined”, as Sophie des Déserts, the journalist behind the investigation into the heritage left by the former owner of Olympique de Marseille, details the inextricable financial situation of Dominique Tapie.
“It was a ruined family, because of the legal proceedings he had tried to reverse at the end of his life, which he did not succeed. It was a final gamble à la Bernard Tapie He left as he lived, that is to say with panache, but with a field of ruin behind him”.
In 2015, Dominique Tapie was ordered jointly and severally with her husband to repay the approximately 400 million euros he had obtained in the Crédit Lyonnais affair. A sum which, with interest – 90,000 euros per day – would reach 600 million euros. However, the heritage of Tapie is estimated at 300 million euros. It, therefore, remains for the widow to find an additional 300 million for reimbursement.
According to Paris Match , Dominique Tapie would only live today with a pension of 450 euros per month.
“It was a couple who apparently lived a high life, but everything was seized, their properties too”, says Sophie des Déserts.
The Parisian mansion? Acquired by billionaire François Pinault. The villa in Saint-Tropez? Even the animals were seized. The same fate was reserved for their second home located in Combs-la-Ville.
“It’s all going away, but it hadn’t belonged to them for years, because justice had seized them”, analyzes Sophie des Déserts.
Today, Dominique Tapie can only count on her children and the friends of her late husband, such as Jean-Louis Borloo , who provide her with financial support and have helped her find an apartment.
Bernard Tapie, described as a “clan man”, was aware of the situation he was going to leave behind.
“He was distraught, I remember seeing him crying talking about the situation, what was going to happen to Dominique if things did not change. He had the will to protect Dominique as much as possible until the end”, assured on BFMTV Franz-Olivier Giesbert, biographer of Bernard Tapie.
As for Sophie des Déserts, she says: “I think he was an ogre, Tapie. Protector, enchanter, who was keen to protect his family. A clan leader who thought he was immortal. He didn’t want to see reality in the face.
The clan is stunned, but all that was written. It was enough to look at the court decisions”.