Hermès heir who promised his $13bn fortune to his gardener reveals there may be a catch
The billionaire scion of luxury design house Hermès promised to leave his $13 billion fortune to his gardener, but there appears to be a catch.
Nicolas Puech, 81, made headlines last year when he announced he wanted to adopt his 51-year-old former gardener, making the worker the billionaire’s rightful heir.
Forbes estimated his net worth at $13.6 billion in 2024 thanks to his stake in Hermes, which has a market cap of $248 billion.
But Puech has told a Swiss court he does not in fact have much left to spend, with a judge rejecting his claims that his former wealth manager Eric Freymond played a role in the disappearance of his fortune, as reported by Bloomberg.
Puech’s lawyers told the court that he does not own the $13 billion assets of Hermès International SCA (a 5.7 percent stake), which are held by his family, which has a total fortune of about $155 billion.
Nicolas Puech, 81, made headlines last year when he announced he would adopt his former greenkeeper, 51, making the worker the billionaire’s rightful heir.
However, a Geneva appeals court found no evidence that Freymond mismanaged the fifth-generation heir’s money.
Puech claimed he was unaware that he did not own the Hermes shares as he assumed Freymond would receive his bank statements.
Puech, who has no children and is not married, is said to have referred to his former gardener – reportedly from a “modest Moroccan family” – and his wife as his “children”.
The decision to adopt his gardener is a result of suspected tensions within the family, which were partly caused by a takeover of a significant stake in Hermès shares by a competitor.
However, an appeals court in Geneva found no evidence that his former asset manager Freymond (pictured) mismanaged the money of the fifth-generation heir
Puech was valued at $13.6 billion by Forbes in 2024 thanks to his stake in Hermes, which has a market cap of $248 billion
Luxury group LVMH, owned by Bernard Arnault – one of the world’s richest people – is said to have acquired a large stake in Hermès after Puech stepped down as his ancestor’s commissioner, citing family problems.
In 2011, Puech pledged to donate his fortune to the Isocrates Foundation, a philanthropic organization he founded that provides grants to “support the fundamental role that civil society organizations play in safeguarding and stimulating public debate.”
According to the foundation’s website, ‘the foundation finances and supports journalism in the public interest and media organizations that are committed to strengthening the field of investigative journalism’.
In Switzerland, where Puech lives for tax reasons, adult adoption is not a common phenomenon.