(Newsweek) - An heir to the Hermès fortune has lost a lawsuit against a former financial advisor he claimed had stolen at least $13 billion from him.
Nicolas Puech, 81, had promised to leave half his fortune to his gardener but now claims all his money is gone.
However, Swiss newspaper Tribune de Genève reported that the Geneva court rejected Puech's claim against adviser Eric Freymond.
An appeals court ruled that Puech had not presented any evidence of wrongdoing.
Puech was one of the largest stakeholders in Hermes, which makes handbags and silk scarves. The luxury brand is favored by everyone from Melania Trump to Taylor Swift.
The wider Hermes family of about 100 heirs has a combined net worth of about $155 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Nicolas's brother,
Bertrand Puech, was one of the wealthiest people in the world. The pair had a sometimes difficult relationship, in part because of tussles for control of the family shares.
Journalist Sylvain Besson from the French media group Tamedia has been documenting the case since December and believes the many twists and turns in the case are worthy of a Netflix drama.
Speaking to the Lemanblue TV channel, she said that Puech, now based in Valais in Switzerland, is at odds with some of his family.
Puech fired his Geneva financial manager, Eric Freymond, two years ago.
According to Besson, Freymond had advised Peuch against his plan to leave about $6.5 billion to his Moroccan gardener, whom he considered as a son. The gardener's wife, from Spain, was often introduced as his daughter.
In another dramatic move, Peuch severed his relationship with an education charity that was due to receive the bulk of his fortune after his death.
That left the charity with a budget crisis and it had to cancel some programs.
That still leaves a huge mystery at the center of the case—where is Peuch's $13 billion fortune?
The court case hasn't answered that question, except to absolve Freymond of any wrongdoing.
The appeal court seemed very unimpressed by Peuch's argument, noting that the "enormous fraud" that Peuch had alleged was "undetectable to common mortals."
Newsweek sought email comment on Tuesday from Puech's lawyer Gregoire Mangeat and from Freymond's lawyer, Yannis Sakkas.
According to Bloomberg, which has also been covering the case, the appeal court decision "is part of the fallout of an attempt by luxury tycoon Bernard Arnault, founder of LVMH, to gain control of Hermès more than a decade ago."
"He failed, but Puech became a family outcast over his alleged role in the way Arnault stealthily amassed a stake in the company."
It also noted that "the fate of Puech's roughly 5.7% stake remains a lasting enigma from the showdown, which ended in 2014 when Arnault started unwinding his 23% holding and Puech quit the Hermès supervisory board."
By Sean Driscoll
Jul 30, 2024
