The curious case of the Hermès heir who wanted to leave billions to his gardener

Nicolas Puech had an unusual plan for his billions: giving half of it to the gardener, handyman, and residence manager who had been working for him for years. But the 81-year-old grandson of Hermès is currently facing some even more pressing questions regarding his millions of shares of the luxury fashion house.

Nicolas Puech's $13 billion mystery takes a legal turn

According to Nicolas Puech’s court case, he no longer owns six million shares worth $13 billion (Rs 10,000 crore) in the company Hermès International SCA. The said shares made up the majority of his assets and were deposited in a Geneva bank in 2012. The present location of the said shares is unknown. Nicolas allegedly put his money and the accounts into the hands of Eric Freymond, his financial manager for over twenty years. Eric is said to have received all of his banking statements and, therefore, Nicolas did not know that he no longer possessed the shares.

However, an appeal court in Geneva, Switzerland, threw out his allegations, citing lack of proof of any wrongdoing by Eric Freymond. The court apparently pointed out that Nicolas had signed several blank papers and had readily put his old boss in charge of his accounts.

The gardener who could have inherited billions

It has left many in doubt about the intentions of Nicolas Puech regarding his inheritance. It came out in December 2023 that he planned to adopt his former gardener and handyman, who is a 51-year-old man from Morocco, as his biological son. He had also planned to change his beneficiaries so that the man would inherit half of his wealth.

Nicolas Puech, who is unmarried and childless, is the direct offspring of the founder of Hermès, Thierry Hermès. He is said to own 5.7% of Hermès, thus becoming its largest individual shareholder. The value of his net worth reportedly increased from $3.1 billion in 2020 to over four times that amount by 2024. One source estimated his net worth at $11.7 billion.

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