His daughter Nicola Peltz has been dominating headlines after being placed at the centre of a feud between husband Brooklyn Beckham and his parents.
Yet it’s hardly surprising that Nelson’s daughter isn’t afraid to stand her ground, having learnt from the best.
Nelson, 83, has earned the reputation of being one of the most feared investors on Wall Street after taking on proxy fights at companies like Procter & Gamble, Heinz and Disney.
His rise through the ranks is somewhat remarkable given he started out his career as a delivery truck driver, before working his way up to launch one of the biggest food distributing companies in the world.
While his name may not be as well known in pop culture as the Beckhams, his wealth eclipses that of his co-parents-in-law, with Nelson boasting a stunning net worth of $1.6 billion, in comparison to the Beckhams’ $680 million.
When it came to the joining of the two families, Nelson wasted no time splashing $3.5 million on his daughter’s wedding in 2022, showing he’d truly welcomed Brooklyn, 26, into the family fold.
The billionaire ‘bully’ who raised Nicola Peltz: How Nelson became the most feared investor on Wall Street and instilled his work ethic into his 10 children
Brooklyn, 26, has gushed over his new family on social media, joined family holidays and even sought career advice from Nelson
Yet the wedding was not without drama, with Nelson filing a lawsuit against two of the couple’s wedding planners, in which he was branded a ‘bully billionaire’ in response.
The big day itself was also marred by scandals, with Nicola said to have been left in tears after her first dance with Brooklyn was ‘hijacked’ by Victoria.
Since reports that Brooklyn had fallen out with his family first began to emerge three years ago, Nicola was often blamed for causing the rift.
Nicola fired back last year, making her thoughts known when she ‘liked’ a social media comment that read: ‘The fact people are in this comment section talking bs about someone controlling a GROWN man is absurd.
‘The guy is an adult and can make his own decisions, leave them be and stop blaming women for everything.’
It’s hardly surprising that Nicola refused to back down, previously citing Nelson as her inspiration.
She told Tatler: ‘My dad always says, “I don’t care what you do in life, as long as you are fully committed and you work”.’
Nicola also shared Nelson’s mantra: ‘Someone will always be prettier, more talented – you always find competition in that area – but no one should be a harder worker than you.’
Indeed it’s a work ethic that Nelson’s children have embraced.
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Nelson has built a family dynasty as the father of ten children (pictured with Brooklyn, his wife Claudia and Nicola)
Brooklyn has been embraced by the Peltzes, joining them on family holidays and gushing over them in social media posts.
All the while, he’s not been seen with his own family in months.
Nicola previously revealed that Brooklyn also relies on his new father-in-law for business advice.
She shared: ‘Brooklyn is getting into very exciting things with his shows and also business things and it’s really sweet. I watch him call my dad and say, “What do you think about this?” I love watching him learn from my dad.’
While he may be leaning on Nelson now for advice, the pair have little in common, given Brooklyn’s nepo baby status and Nelson’s humble roots.
Nelson, the youngest of three children, was born to a middle-class Jewish family in New York City in 1942.
He attended the prestigious Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania but dropped out in 1963 before finishing his degree to help with the family business.
Nelson and his brother Robert took over their father’s frozen-food distribution company which they grew rapidly over the coming years.
Nelson built Triangle Industries into the largest packaging company in the world (pictured with Rupert Murdoch, right, in 2006)
They focused on expansion by buying several other food companies and renamed the company Flagstaff Corp, going public in 1972 with $150 million in sales.
He grew his wealth further in the 1980s by acquiring manufacturing firm Triangle Industries and building it into the largest packaging company in the world before selling it in 1988, a deal which reportedly netted him hundreds of millions.
In 2003, he was part of a group of investors who made a bid to purchase New York Magazine.
The group jointly contributed more than $50 million for the publication after it was put up for sale by Primedia Inc. but the deal didn’t go through. The magazine was instead bought by investment banker Bruce Wasserstein for about $55 million.
While Nelson could have easily retired with his already astronomical wealth, he instead pivoted to ‘activist investing’: buying significant stakes in underperforming companies and pushing for changes such as cost cuts, restructurings, asset sales, or management shake-ups.
It’s a common practice on Wall Street but it has earned Nelson a fair share of criticism over the years.
Starting a firm called Trian in 2005, he waged campaigns to get on the boards of companies like Heinz, Procter & Gamble and Unilever, with target companies often depicting him as short-term focused.
In 2024, Disney released a three-minute takedown video to try and stop him from joining its board of directors, calling him ‘disruptive and destructive’.
Starting a firm called Trian in 2005, he waged campaigns to get on the boards of several companies with targets often depicting him as short-term focused
Nelson and his Trian Fund launched a campaign to win two board seats.
Disney lashed out with a political-style video trashing the activist shareholder’s motivations and qualifications in an increasingly bare-knuckled proxy battle.
The company said Nelson has a long history of ‘attacking companies to the ultimate detriment’ of shareholders and said it would be ‘disruptive’ and ‘value-destructive’ to include him and crony Jay Rasulo.
Nelson argued in his own presentation that Disney was slow to adapt to industry changes, including in streaming, made errors in its acquisition strategy and bungled succession planning.
His bid ultimately failed, with shareholders voting to reelect all 12 of Disney’s incumbent directors, rejecting Nelson and Jay Rasulo.
Along with his business dealings, Nelson has also been involved with politics as a significant Republican donor.
He personally gave at least $85,800 to Donald Trump-related campaign committees for his 2016 presidential election bid and gave over $200,000 to the Republican National Committee during the 2020 cycle, according to CNBC.
Nelson later said he was ‘sorry’ he voted for Trump in 2020 following the January 6 Capitol Hill Riot.
There was trouble on Nicola’s wedding day, with Nelson having an ‘utterly foul outburst’ at a guest who used a toilet inside his Florida mansion
However in March 2024, he said he would likely still vote for Trump in that year’s election, saying he preferred Trump’s immigration policies.
He was critical of immigration under President Joe Biden and also expressed concerns over his health.
Nelson went on to build a family dynasty as the father of 10 children. He had two children with his first wife Cynthia Abrams who he married in 1964 and divorced in 1981.
The businessman went on to marry former model Claudia in 1985 and had eight children with her – Matthew, 40, a businessman, Brad, 32, a former ice hockey player; Brittany, who is a children’s clothes designer; Darren (known as Diesel), 27, a tech entrepreneur; twins Zachary and Gregory, 18 – and Nicola.
While he has built a fearsome reputation in the financial world, Nelson has proven he isn’t afraid to go to war for his children either.
In December 2022, he sued Nicola’s ex-wedding planners Plan Design Events, specifically planners Nicole Braghin and Arianna Grijalba.
He alleged they failed to deliver on their obligations and refused to refund a $159,000 deposit after he fired them during the lead-up to the lavish $3.5million wedding, held at his oceanfront estate in Florida.
In the filing, the Peltzes accused Braghin, Grijalba and their company of providing ‘no services of value’.
The women hit back with a 188-page counterclaim against Nelson, his wife and daughter, calling him a ‘bully billionaire’, dishing details of the event plans – including an alleged $100,000 hair and make-up bill – and exposing hundreds of text messages that showed Nicola firing off orders and criticizing their design suggestions.
Nelson later filed to remove his wife and daughter from the planners’ countersuit, claiming they weren’t party to the original contract.
The dispute was settled in September 2023 and dismissed with prejudice, meaning neither side can re-file the claims.
There was also trouble on the wedding day, with sources close to David and Victoria Beckham claiming Nelson had an ‘outburst’ at a guest who used a toilet inside his Florida mansion instead of one of the portable toilets set up on the grounds.
A source at the time told Daily Mail: ‘The whole Beckham family found Nelson utterly foul at the wedding. They didn’t particularly like him before but they really didn’t afterwards.
‘They were kind of in their corner having a lovely time and trying to enjoy their son’s big day but there was certainly an atmosphere. Brooklyn is obviously aware of the strained relations between his parents and Nelson.
‘He knows they don’t like him very much. It all feels like Brooklyn and Nicola are rubbing David and Victoria’s faces in all of this.’
