In a strange contention to a Swiss court, Nicolas Puech, heir to luxury fashion brand Hermes, said that his wealth and possession from the brand has suddenly disappeared.
Puech accused his former wealth manager who worked for him for the last 20 years and told the court that the 6 million shares of Hermès he owned which were worth about $13 billion (Rs 10,000 crore) had disappeared and reportedly claimed that his former manager played a part in the loss.
The court rejected his claims as it found that he was unable to provide any evidence supporting his claims. “The ‘gigantic fraud' to which he was the victim was undetectable to common mortals,” the court said.
As per reports, the whereabouts of the shares, which were placed in a Geneva bank in 2012, remain uncertain. Nicolas Puech, aged 81 and a descendant of Thierry Hermes, the founder of Hermes, is a solitary individual without any children. He is among the inheritors of the prestigious handbag label and has pledged to give half of his wealth to his ex-gardener and handyman.
In 2023, he expressed his intention to give a significant part of his wealth to his former gardener, who he plans to adopt.
According to the reports, Puech possesses 5.7% of Hermes' shares, which may appear modest but positions him as the primary individual stakeholder. Forbes claimed that Puech's present wealth is approximately $11.7 billion (around Rs 98,000 crore), ranking him as the 161st richest person in the world.
Meanwhile, little information is available regarding the gardener-handyman, except that he has served Puech as a household overseer for many years. Presently 51 years old, he hails from Morocco.
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