Quick Facts
- Net Worth: $10 Million
- Category: Model / Comic Book Writer
- Born: September 26, 1990 (age 35), Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, Belgium
- Height: 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
- Spouse: Arnaud Lagardère (married 2013)
- Children: 3 (Liva, Mila, Nolan)
Jade Foret built her fortune on the runway, then turned it into a bigger story about family, fame, and reinvention. The Belgian model, now known professionally as Jade Lagardère, has a net worth of $10 million. She earned her first paycheck before she was even a teenager, and today she is just as well known for her marriage to French media mogul Arnaud Lagardère as she is for her modeling résumé.
Here’s a full breakdown of how Jade Foret built her wealth, the career that launched her into the spotlight, and what her life looks like now.
Who Is Jade Foret?
Jade Foret is a Belgian model, screenwriter, and comic book author born in 1990 in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, Belgium. She is the fourth of five children in her family. Foret grew up tall for her age, which made her a target for teasing at school — but that same height would later become one of her biggest career assets.
She started modeling at just 12 years old, and within a year she was already a familiar face across Belgium.
Early Life and Modeling Career
Foret signed with Belgium’s Newmodels agency in 2003. Her big break came fast. At 13, a striking backless photo of her was blown up onto a massive billboard on Brussels’ Madou Plaza Tower. The image turned heads across the city and put her on the radar of major fashion houses.
That same year, she walked in Milan for Armani — an incredible achievement for someone still in middle school. She went on to walk for other top names, including:
- Alberta Ferretti
- Kenzo
- Trussardi
- Dirk Bikkembergs
- Antonio Marras
A few years later, Foret signed with One Management and relocated to New York City to chase bigger modeling opportunities on an international stage. The move paid off, opening doors to campaigns and shoots that a purely European career couldn’t offer.
From Runway to the Big Screen
Modeling wasn’t Foret’s only creative outlet. She took on small acting roles early in her career, including:
- “Louis et la belle brocante” (2008) — playing a girl at a bar
- “Sans laisser de traces” (2010) — playing a Russian girl
While acting never became her main focus, these roles showed early signs of the storytelling career she’d eventually build — just not in front of the camera.
Jade Foret’s Net Worth Explained
Jade Foret’s $10 million net worth comes mainly from over a decade of modeling contracts, runway bookings, and brand campaigns, built up steadily since she was a young teenager. Unlike many celebrities whose wealth is tied to a single windfall, Foret’s fortune reflects years of consistent, high-value work in the fashion industry — plus her more recent pivot into publishing.
Her Relationship With Arnaud Lagardère
Before settling down, Foret’s love life made plenty of headlines. In 2009, she had a short but high-profile romance with Belgian soccer star Emile Mpenza. When that relationship ended, she moved to the United States to focus on her career.
In 2010, everything changed when she met French businessman Arnaud Lagardère, then one of Europe’s most powerful media executives. The two quickly became a couple, and their relationship became public in a big way in 2011, when a behind-the-scenes video of a Rambouillet photo shoot appeared in the Belgian newspaper Le Soir. The clip went viral overnight and sparked plenty of gossip — some of Lagardère’s own employees reportedly questioned whether the publicity was a distraction from running his company.
Marriage and Family Life
Foret and Lagardère married in May 2013, about six months after welcoming their first daughter, Liva. The couple went on to have two more children together: daughter Mila in 2014 and son Nolan in 2016.
There is a striking height difference between the two — Jade stands more than a foot taller than her husband — but the pair have stayed together through years of public scrutiny, financial ups and downs, and legal drama surrounding Arnaud’s business empire.
Arnaud Lagardère’s Fortune: Highs and Lows
At his peak, Arnaud Lagardère’s personal fortune was estimated at more than $2.5 billion. That number has fallen sharply since then. As shares of the Lagardère Group slid over the years, reports say Arnaud was forced to pledge nearly all of his equity in the company to banks to cover personal debts, which have reportedly totaled around $200 million. Recent estimates now put his net worth closer to $200 million — still substantial, but a steep drop from his billionaire days.
Despite the debt, Lagardère kept his lifestyle running on the company’s dividends. Between 2008 and 2019 alone, he personally collected more than $400 million in dividend payouts — even during years when the stock itself was underperforming. He also faced legal scrutiny over embezzlement allegations tied to his personal companies, which briefly affected his ability to lead the business, before an appeal partially restored his management role in 2024.
| Jade Foret | Arnaud Lagardère | |
|---|---|---|
| Net Worth | $10 Million | ~$200 Million (down from $2.5 Billion peak) |
| Main Income Source | Modeling, publishing | Lagardère Group dividends and executive pay |
| Career | Model, comic book writer | Chairman & CEO, Lagardère SCA |
What Is Jade Foret Doing Now?
These days, Jade Foret has stepped back from full-time modeling to focus on a new creative chapter: writing comic books. She has released titles including Amber Blake and Opération Dragonfly, working alongside professional illustrators to bring her original stories to life. It’s a notable shift for someone who spent her teenage years walking runways in Milan.
She has also become more open publicly about her health, using her platform to raise awareness around endometriosis, a condition affecting many women. Her willingness to speak candidly about it has resonated with fans who appreciate her honesty beyond the glossy modeling world.
Foret splits her time between France and the United States, where the family owns property, all while raising three children with Arnaud.
Final Thoughts
Jade Foret’s story is one of reinvention — from a Belgian schoolgirl mocked for her height, to an international model, to a wife navigating the public ups and downs of one of France’s most talked-about business families, and now a published comic book writer building a career of her own. With a $10 million net worth and a growing creative portfolio, Foret has proven she’s far more than just a famous face.
For more celebrity net worth breakdowns and the stories behind the fortune, stick with faminaz.com.