What Was Bijan Pakzad's Net Worth?
Bijan Pakzad was an Iranian designer of menswear and fragrances who had a net worth of $50 million at the time of his death in 2011. Bijan Pakzad was known to the public as simply 'Bijan' thanks to his eponymous Beverly Hills store, which has been described as "the most expensive store in the world." A connoisseur of quality, perfection, and universal design excellence, Bijan was considered a genius marketer of perception and image for his men's couture, haute, and multi-billion-dollar empire as a peerless purveyor of elegance and affluence. Sadly, Pakzad died on April 16, 2011, at the age of 71 after suffering a stroke.
Early Life
Bijan Pakzad was born on April 4, 1940, in Tehran, Iran. His father was a wealthy industrialist who worked in the steel industry. Bijan attended the Swiss boarding school Institut Le Rosey, and he studied design in both Italy and Switzerland. He began his career at Tehran's Pink Panther Boutique.
Rodeo Drive
Bijan moved to Los Angeles in 1973, and he opened a boutique on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills in 1976. He forged his way to Rodeo Drive by virtue of just three simple words – "By Appointment Only" – offering him unprecedented access to some of the wealthiest people in the world. Pakzad opened a store in New York City in 1984, and it closed in 2000. By the mid-1980s, Bijan had more than 15,000 customers and $150 million revenue.
His custom-made clothing was manufactured in a textile factory he owned in Italy, and his clients included such big names as President Barack Obama, Cary Grant, Michael Jordan, Stevie Wonder, and Frank Sinatra. In 2000, Pakzad attracted controversy due to advertisements he published that starred a nude "rotund model named Bella." The ads were rejected by several New York magazines, but after Tina Brown's "Talk" published them, other magazines changed their tune. In 1996, Bijan released a Michael Jordan fragrance. In 2001, the "Los Angeles Times Calendar Section" reported that the Bijan Perfume and Fashion Business had generated more than $3 billion in sales. One of the Bijan company's slogans was "the costliest men's wear in the world."
Bijan Pakzad (Photo by Mark Sullivan/WireImage)
Personal Life
Bijan married and divorced twice. He was married to Sigi Pakzad for 18 years after meeting in Europe in the '60s, and they had a daughter named Daniela. Pakzad was married to model/interior designer Tracy Hayakawa from 1986 to 1995, and they had son Nicolas and daughter Alexandra together. Bijan owned a 23-car garage that was full of custom-made luxury cars, including one known as the Bijan Bugatti Veyron. He also owned a yellow Bentley Azure with black interior, a Black Bentley Azure with yellow interior, a black Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren with a customized paint scheme, a yellow Ferrari 430 Spider, and a yellow Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupé, all of which he often parked outside of his Rodeo Drive boutique.
Death
Pakzad suffered a stroke on April 14, 2011, and underwent brain surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in L.A. He passed away two days later at the age of 71. In 2016, LVMH bought Bijan's Rodeo Drive boutique for $122 million, and it moved across the street four years later.
Awards
In 1995, Bijan won the Ig Nobel Chemistry Prize, and in 2010, the Otis College of Art and Design honored him with the Otis Design Legend Award. In 2011, Oxford University named him Entrepreneur of the Year. Pakzad also won four FiFi Awards: Best Women's Fragrance Package (1988), Most Successful Men's Fragrance (1988), Best National Advertising Campaign – Men's (1997), and Men's Fragrance Star of the Year Specialty/ Department Stores (1997).
Real Estate
For much of his later years, Bijan owned a large and appropriately ornate mansion on Sunset Blvd. in Los Angeles. He bought the mansion from singer Luis Miguel for $6 million (with no mortgage in 2002). Spanning more than 12,000 square feet, the mansion featured six bedrooms and nine bathrooms and was famously adorned with more than 100 terra cotta flowerpots lining the property. At the time of Pakzad's death, his estate valued the mansion at $5 million. Interestingly, just two years later, in 2013, Bijan's estate sold the mansion for $9.4 million. Pakzad also owned a house in Malibu.
