CHUNKS of the reclusive Hermès boss’s $13billion fortune have reportedly vanished after adopting his gardener to inherit the riches.
Nicolas Puech, 81, has alleged in court filings that he no longer owns 6 million shares of the brand worth billions – which he was to give to his gardener.
Puech is a fifth-generation descendant of Thierry Hermès who founded the iconic brand in 1837.
With the adoption plans, the gardener would have inherited a significant portion of Puech’s fortune and acquire substantial properties in Marrakesh, Morocco and Montreux, Switzerland valued at about £4.8million.
But the fashion house stakeholder says he doesn’t have a chunk of the fortune anymore.
In a Swiss court, Puech’s lawyers claimed he no longer owned around six million shares of Hermès stock, which made up the majority of the eye-watering fortune.
He claims that Eric Freymond, his former wealth manager, played a part in the loss, Gotham City reports.
But the fashion house shareholder was told by a Swiss court that Freymond couldn’t be held responsible for the vanished fortune despite being trusted to monitor it.
The court also reportedly found no evidence that his trusted financial adviser mismanaged any of his unbelievable wealth, saying Puech was not the victim of “gigantic fraud”.
It was said that Puech’s “blind trust” in Freymond, who exercised complete control over his bank account, doesn’t mean that the wealth manager deceived his client, Bloomberg reports.
The court ruled that Puech willingly turned over management of his wealth to Freymond.
Puech ended Freymond’s control of the unbelievable wealth in October 2022 to take stock of the shares and organise his succession, the court said.
The following year the fashion house heir reportedly filed three cases against his financial adviser.
One alleges the wealth manager withheld information and wouldn’t or couldn’t return the shares, Bloomberg reports.
The two others relate to the management of his finances and investments that Freymond oversaw in his role.
The whereabouts of the stock remains unknown for now.
The billionaire made headlines last December after reports claimed he planned to leave a hefty chunk of his massive wealth to his gardener.
Nicolas Puech announced that he was to adopt his “former gardener and handyman”, 51, in an unorthodox move which would make him his rightful heir, according to Swiss publication Tribune de Genève.
The Hermès fashion house is today one of the world’s most prestigious with a market value of more than £183billion – of which Puech reportedly owns between five and six per cent.
Allegedly, Puech had already initiated legal proceedings to formalise the adoption of his gardener who comes from a “modest Moroccan family” and has a wife, from Spain, with whom he shares two children.
Puech does not have children and is not married.
He reportedly fell out with his family after rival luxury group LVMH acquired a substantial stake in Hermès and Puech resigned from the company’s supervisory board in 2014.
A spokesperson for Puech said at the time: “He resigned because he has felt for several years beleaguered by members of his family, who have attacked him on several fronts, not only regarding LVMH.”
Adult adoption is very rare in Switzerland, where Puech lives reportedly for tax reasons, and a prior relationship during the adoptee’s childhood years is a prerequisite.
