The death of French cinema icon Brigitte Bardot has drawn attention to her unconventional legacy.

Although her fortune was estimated at around $65 million, most of her wealth was transferred during her lifetime to animal welfare charities through the Brigitte Bardot Foundation, leaving her only son, Nicolas-Jacques Charrier, with a limited inheritance under French law. A passionate animal rights activist after retiring from acting in 1973,

Bardot devoted decades of her life, assets, and royalties to humanitarian causes. Her relationship with her son was long strained but improved in her final years. Bardot passed away at home in France on December 28, leaving behind a lasting impact on both cinema and animal protection.