If he has deserted television sets in recent years, Jean-Pierre Foucault remains one of the most emblematic animators. And the wealthiest. According to Capital, the presenter received in recent years 35,000 euros gross per edition of Miss France. A sum which, according to him, allowed him to surround himself with collaborators: “I employ five people to help me prepare the show”, he specified to our colleagues.
Still according to Capital, Jean-Pierre Foucault earned 15,000 euros per issue of Who wants to be a millionaire?. La Française des Jeux also paid him 4,000 euros for each Loto draw. According to Yahoo!, the host would ask between 35,000 and 45,000 euros per prime time at TF1. He would also be one of the few to charge the channel only for the program. “In general, the money I earn, I don’t earn it for 50 minutes of broadcast, but for 42 years of business and 50 minutes of broadcast”, estimates the interested party.
Rumors about the heritage of Jean-Pierre Foucault have always fueled the tabloids and the Internet. Difficult to know exactly the amount of the fortune of the host, who also has real estate and collectible vehicles. According to Capital, he would pay himself dividends estimated between 400,000 and 800,000 euros per year. In 2015, he would have had to pay a wealth tax of 68,817 euros, which is equivalent to an estate of 7.5 million euros.
As revealed by the Gotham City site, Jean-Pierre Foucault was the subject of a tax adjustment of 365,394 euros for the years 2011 to 2015. The Paris Court of Appeal has also given reason for the administration this year and ordered the 74-year-old to pay the bill.
To reduce the ISF, abolished in 2018 by Emmanuel Macron, Jean-Pierre Foucault had invested in photovoltaic power plants in Guadeloupe and Santo Domingo. He had also transmitted his heritage to his daughter in 2003, via the company Parasol Production. And thus benefit from the Dutreil pact which reduces the amount of tax by 75%.
However, the tax authorities considered that the company did not meet one of the main criteria of the Dutreil pact, namely to devote itself to a predominantly commercial activity. “More than 90% of the company’s assets were investments, cash, stakes in renewable energy production companies, and receivables from these stakes,” said the tax authorities. The Court of Appeal, seized by Jean-Pierre Foucault, confirmed this observation: Parasol Production would only serve to make financial investments within the framework of the management of the animator’s assets.