Peter Brant Net Worth

What is Peter Brant's net worth?

Peter M. Brant is an American businessman, industrialist, and art collector who has a net worth of $800 million. Though in the ideal art market, his net worth could be significantly higher thanks to his impressive collection of works bet Warhol, Basquiat, Jeff Koons, and others. He bought so many Warhol paintings in the 1970s that Warhol himself became concerned he owned too many of his works.

Peter Brant publicly showcases his collection at his Brant Foundation Art Study Center. Among his many other endeavors, he was a major newsprint publisher, a film investor and producer, a thoroughbred racehorse owner and breeder, and an amateur polo player.

Peter is also known for marrying model Stephanie Seymour in 1995. Around 2010, the couple entered into divorce proceedings. As part of these proceedings, we learned that Brant spent around $500,000 per month on private jet travel, pet business projects, and real estate developments. He was temporarily ordered to pay Seymour $270,000 per month in support. At the time, he reported his monthly income to be $1.5 million. They eventually reconciled. They maintain homes in Greenwich, Connecticut, The Hamptons, and Palm Beach, Florida.

Early Life and Education

Peter Brant was born on March 1, 1947, in New York City to Jewish Bulgarian immigrants Lily and Murray. He has a sister named Irene and was raised in the Jamaica Estates neighborhood of Queens. For his higher education, Brant attended the University of Colorado Boulder, but didn't graduate.

Career in the Newsprint Industry

Brant dropped out of college to work for his father's paper conversion company, Brant-Allen Industries. In the early 1970s, Brant and his cousin H. Joseph Allen expanded the company into the manufacturing business and purchased some paper mills. When paper demand was declining in the early 2000s, Brant went on a buying spree, purchasing mills. He eventually bought out his partner in 2008 and changed the name of Brant-Allen Industries to White Birch Paper Company. The same year, Brant purchased SP Newsprint Company, which, when added to his other companies, gave him control of 22% of the North American newsprint market. He soon expanded SP Newsprint into paper recycling operations. However, Brant struggled financially due to the decaying newsprint industry and the recession. In early 2010, he restructured White Birch Paper under Chapter 11 proceedings, and in late 2011, his SP Newsprint Company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Brant was able to purchase White Birch Paper out of bankruptcy in 2012 in partnership with Black Diamond Capital Management.

In addition to White Birch Paper, Brant was the owner and chairman of Brant Publications, which was founded in New York City in 1983. The company published a myriad of magazines, including Interview, Art in America, Antiques, and Modern. In 2016, Brant merged Art in America with its main competitor, ARTnews. Two years later, Penske Media Corporation purchased the magazines from Brant.

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Art Collecting

Since collecting his first artworks, which included pieces by Andy Warhol, Brant has become one of the most prominent art collectors in the world and among the largest collectors of Warhol. His collection is displayed publicly through his Brant Foundation Art Study Center, which has locations in Manhattan's East Village and Greenwich, Connecticut. In addition to numerous Warhols, the collection boasts many works by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jeff Koons, Glenn Ligon, and Dan Flavin, among others. Brant sold the Basquiat painting "Boy and Dog in a Johnnypump" to Ken Griffin for $100 million in 2020.

Film Investing and Producing

Among his other endeavors, Brant has worked as a film investor and producer. In the 1970s, he gave money to the production of the underground films "L'Amour" and "Bad," both projects by Andy Warhol. Brant's later producing credits include the 2000 biopic "Pollock," directed by Ed Harris, and the 2014 Western "The Homesman," directed by Tommy Lee Jones. He also had a producing credit on the Peabody Award-winning 2006 documentary "Andy Warhol: A Documentary Film."

(Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Food Bank of New York City)

Thoroughbred Horse Ownership and Breeding

Brant was a member of the group that owned the thoroughbred racehorse Swale, which won both the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes in 1984. He later bred the 1995 Kentucky Derby winner Thunder Gulch, the son of his horse Gulch.

Polo

At one time, the highest-rated amateur polo player in the United States, Brant co-founded the Greenwich Polo Club in 1981. He created the White Birch Polo Team, which went on to become the most dominant team in high-goal polo. Brant also co-founded the Saratoga Polo Association and Bridgehampton Polo Club.

Tax Evasion

In 1990, Brant was investigated for tax evasion. He pleaded guilty to charges of failing to keep records and was sentenced to three months in prison with a $200,000 fine.

Personal Life

Brant married his first wife, Sandra, in 1969. They had five children together: Ryan, Lindsay, Christopher, Kelly, and Allison. After the couple divorced in 1995, Brant married supermodel Stephanie Seymour. They have three children together — Peter Jr., Harry, and Lily — and Brant is also the stepfather to Seymour's son Dylan. Peter Jr. is a model. Tragically, in January 2021, their son Harry died from a drug overdose at the age of 24.

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