Nicolas Puech, the Hermès heir who made headlines for planning to leave his inheritance to his gardener, now claims that his $13 billion has vanished.
READ: Hermes Heir Nicolas Puech Claims That His $13 Billion Fortune Has Vanished
In court filings, the 81-year-old descendant of founder Thierry Hermès states that he no longer owns about six million shares in the luxury group’s Hermès International SCA, which is said to be estimated at around $13 billion or approximately P760 billion. According to a report by Swiss news outlet Gotham City, the heir alleged that his former financial advisor Eric Freymond received all of his bank statements but had mismanaged and embezzled the fortune for 24 years while working under Nicolas.
However, an appeals court in Geneva, Switzerland found no evidence regarding the alleged fraud, as a court document stated that the supposed incident was “undetectable to common mortals” and lacked clarity, as mentioned in a report by Bloomberg.
The court stated that Nicolas had willingly turned over management to the financial advisor after he signed several documents and gave access to his accounts. “It’s not clear who prevented the plaintiff from taking an interest in how his assets were evolving,” the court said, noting that the heir’s “blind trust” wasn’t indicative of a crime.
The same Bloomberg report mentions that Nicolas started transferring the Hermès shares to Swiss banks in 1998, with the heir reportedly giving Eric signed mandates to oversee his accounts.
In a two-year period through October 2010, a profit of share sales of €53.7 million was recorded, which was linked to Bernard Arnault of LVMH’s long interest in gaining control of the Hermès brand. Nicolas reportedly had “no objections” to Bernard’s involvement and amassed stake, while his family was said to have strategized to keep LVMH at arm’s length.
Bloomberg reports that Nicolas canceled the mandates to his financial advisor in 2022, and later filed three cases against him that alleged that Eric had mismanaged his wealth and those that related to the management of the foundation and other investments.
In messages to Business Insider, Nicolas’ lawyers, Grégoire Mangeat and Fanny Margairaz, said that they were currently “in the process of studying the criminal file in detail,” while Eric Freymond’s lawyer Stéphane Grodecki claimed that the financial advisor had not handled the said stocks and that they were “shocked” by the accusation.
Nicolas is said to have owned 5.7% of Hermès’ stock, making him the brand’s largest shareholder. The heir made waves late in 2023 when news spread that he planned to leave his sizable fortune to his 51-year-old gardener and all-around handyman, who hails from a modest Moroccan family.
The decision was met with a dispute, however, as he previously signed a succession pact in 2011 with the Isocrates Foundation to leave his inheritance with them, which is a non-government organization he founded in support of journalism combating disinformation.
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