What Is Clare Bronfman's Net Worth?
Clare Bronfman is an American equestrian who has a net worth of $500 million. Clare Bronfman is the youngest daughter of late billionaire and Seagram CEO Edgar Bronfman Sr. Clare's equestrian career began when she was 17 years old, and it took her only three years to qualify to compete at the elite level. She won her first competition in 2001 and went on to win several more. Her highest career ranking was #12 in the United States and #80 in the world.
Bronfman was involved with the marketing company NXIVM's personal advancement program and Executive Success Program workshops. She was arrested in 2018 and was indicted on several federal charges regarding an alleged cult operated within NXIVM named DOS, which included charges such as sex trafficking and conspiracy to commit forced labor. In July 2018, Clare was arrested and charged with identity theft and money laundering and was released on $100 million bond. In September 2020, she was sentenced to 81 months in prison in connection to these charges.
Early Life
Clare Bronfman was born in 1979, in New York City. She is the daughter of Rita Webb and Edgar Bronfman Sr. Edgar, who died in 2013, was a Canadian billionaire who served as the CEO, president, and treasurer of his family's company, Seagram. Clare's older sister, Sara, was born in 1976, and the sisters have five older half-siblings from her father's marriage to banking heiress Ann Margaret Loeb. Bronfman's parents divorced in 1983, then they later remarried and divorced again. After the second divorce, Edgar married artist Jan Aronson, and Rita (who was known as Georgiana by this point) wed actor Nigel Havers. Clare and Sara lived with their mother in England and Kenya after the second divorce. Bronfman's father was Jewish, and her mother converted to Judaism when she married Edgar.
Equestrian Career
In late 1999, Clare competed in Ireland's Millstreet Indoor International Horse Show. She won the Grand Prix at CSI-A Eindhoven in May 2001, and her team finished in seventh place in jumping in the Samsung Nations Cup Series' World Final a few months later. In May 2002, Bronfman won Rome's Grand Prix, and her team came in sixth. Clare finished in 13th place at Bremen's CSI-A competition in October 2002. In October 2018, the United States Center for SafeSport permanently banned her due to her involvement with NXIVM, making her ineligible for "any activities and competitions that USEF [United States Equestrian Federation] licenses, endorses, or sponsors."
NXIVM Involvement
Clare got involved with NXIVM's Executive Success Program and personal advancement program in 2002 through her sister. Both Clare and Sara became financial backers of NXIVM's founder, Keith Raniere, and moved to upstate New York to work as trainers for the organization. Clare was an event coordinator for the annual "Vanguard Week," a festival that was put on in honor of Raniere's birthday. The purpose of "Vanguard Week" was "to get the chance to experience a civilized world… [and] craft for ourselves a more fulfilling, purposeful life." The Bronfman sisters introduced their father to the organization, but Edgar left after he found out that Clare had given Raniere and NXIVM co-founder Nancy Salzman a $2 million "loan." In a 2003 "Forbes" magazine article about Raniere, Edgar called NXIVM a "cult." Clare was eventually "NXIVM's operations director and one of its largest financial contributors," but Raniere blamed her for bad publicity against the group due to her father's comments. Bronfman spent about $150 million on the organization. Clare installed keylogger software on Edgar's computer, which gave NXIVM members access to his email for years. Raniere allegedly directed Bronfman to hire private firms to investigate the group's enemies, including several federal judges.
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Looking to distance themselves from the media's cult allegations, NXIVM members spent $2 million in an attempt to earn an endorsement from the Dalai Lama. Raniere and both Bronfman sisters co-founded the organization the World Ethical Foundations Consortium, and Clare and Sara helped bring the Dalai Lama to Albany to take part in the inaugural World Ethical Foundations Consortium event in 2009. The Dalai Lama also wrote the foreword to Raniere's book "The Sphinx & Thelxiepeia." It was later reported that Sara had a sexual relationship with the Dalai Lama's gatekeeper, Lama Tenzin Dhonden, which violated his vow of celibacy. Dhonden had arranged the Dalai Lama's appearance at the World Ethical Foundations Consortium event, and he was replaced due to accusations of corruption. In June 2017, Sarah Edmondson, a member of NXIVM, told Frank Parlato of the "Frank Report" about a "secret sisterhood" within the group called Dominus Obsequious Sororium (DOS), and Parlato published the story. Edmondson stated that the members of DOS were referred to as "slaves," physically punished by their "masters," and branded with Raniere's initials as well as the initials of actress Allison Mack, who was second-in-command of DOS. The women also had to provide nude photos of themselves or potentially damaging information as "collateral." Later that year Clare was contacted by some of the women who were part of DOS, and they demanded that their collateral be returned to them, but she didn't respond to them. Bronfman contracted the police departments in New York City and Vancouver to try to get criminal charges filed against Edmondson.
Raniere and Mack were arrested in 2018 and indicted on federal charges such as sex trafficking and conspiracy to commit forced labor. Federal agents arrested Clare on July 24, 2018, and charged her with identity theft and money laundering in connection with NXIVM. After pleading not guilty to the charges and being released on $100 million bond, she was placed under house arrest. In April 2019, Bronfman pleaded guilty to charges of fraudulent use of identification and conspiracy to conceal and harbor illegal aliens for financial gain. In September 2020, a federal judge sentenced her to 81 months in prison and ordered her to pay a $500,000 fine and pay restitution of $96,605 to one of NXIVM's victims, "Jane Doe 12." Clare has served her time at FDC Philadelphia and the Federal Correctional Institution, Danbury. In January 2020, 80 former NXIVM members filed a civil suit against Clare, Sara, and several other individuals, alleging that the organization made it "physically and psychologically difficult, and in some cases impossible, to leave the coercive community."
Real Estate
In early 2021, Clare's horse farm in upstate New York went on the market for $5 million. The 7,500 square foot home sits on more than 200 acres of land, and it includes seven bedrooms and three bathrooms. The property also features a barn, a carriage house, and riding trails.
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