Who Did Gianni Versace Leave His Money To?

Versace was shot at point-blank on the steps of his Miami Beach home by an obsessed fan in 1997, which meant his entire fortune was left to someone. 

Gianni Versace left almost all of his money to his niece Allegra Versace. Gianni was openly gay and left a $29,000 a month stipend to his partner Antonio D’Amico. He also left his nephew and the brother of Allegra, Daniel, his entire art collection that included paintings by Picasso and Leger.

You can read more below about Gianni Versace’s death, his will, and what exactly happened to the company after his murder. 

Gianni Versace’s Murder

As stated above, Gianni Versace was murdered on the steps to his Miami Beach home on July 15, 1997. His murderer was Andrew Cunanan who shot him at point-blank with .40 caliber Taurus PT100. 

Cunanan was a gay man who was a known serial killer at the time of Versace’s murder. He was on the FBI’s Top 10 Most Wanted List in connection to the murder of four other men. 

The FBI believed that some of the men that Cunanan killed were ex-lovers of his, but they were never able to connect him to Versace. One thing was clear though, he was absolutely obsessed with the luxury fashion designer. 

He had met Versace at a nightclub in San Francisco in 1990 and Versace had mistaken him for someone who had attended one of his parties at his home in Lake Como. Apparently, Cunanan then used this mistake to make himself look better in his social circles.

Before murdering Gianni Versace, Cunanan went on a killing spree after his sugar daddy broke up with him. It was shortly after this break up that Cunanan found out that he was also HIV positive, a fact that the FBI believed may have contributed to his murders. 

After finding out he was HIV positive, he told his friends that he was flying out to Minneapolis, Minnesota to settle some business with his ex-boyfriend, Jeff Trail. According to a report by The New York Times, Cunanan stayed with his friend David Madson. 

Cunanan called Trail to meet up and murdered him, hiding his body in a rolled-up carpet at Madson’s home. He then murdered Madson and police found his body on the shores of East Rush Lake.

Cunanan then drove to Florida, murdering Lee Miglin and William Reese along the way. These were two men he apparently had no connection with. 

It was when he was hiding out in Miami Beach that he found out the location of Gianni Versace’s home and murdered the designer when he was returning home from his morning coffee run. Eight days later, Cunanan committed suicide by shooting himself in the head with the same gun used to murder Versace. 

You can watch the ABC News video below that looks at the murder of Versace 20 years later. 

Gianni Versace’s Will

The fashion industry was absolutely shocked when the news broke that Gianni Versace had been murdered at his Miami Beach home. What would happen to the empire he had built with his sister, Donnatella?

Well, he had planned all of that out in his will. His will left most of his fortune to his niece, Allegra Versace. 

His 45% share in the $1 billion dollar company went to the eleven-year-old he was known to dote on and call his “little princess.” Outside of this huge inheritance, Allegra’s eight-year-old brother Daniel received Gianni’s entire art collection. 

This art collection included paintings by Picasso, Leger, Andy Warhol, and Henri Matisse. In 2005, the Versace family’s holding company had the 45 paintings in the collection auctioned off by Sotheby’s in New York City.

What did Allegra Versace Do With Her Inheritance?

When Allegra Versace turned eighteen, she assumed control of the shares of the company that she inherited from her uncle, Gianni Versace. However, she did not become actively involved in the company until she was 24 so that she could focus on school. 

Although she did start taking part in the company, she didn’t have a role like her mother. In 2018, the family decided to sell all of their shares to Micheal Kors group for $2.1 billion. 

As of 2020, Allegra’s net worth is rumored to be around $800 million after the sale of her shares in 2018. Her mother’s net worth has been reported anywhere from $200 to $400 million, but no one seems to know the actual number. 

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