Hermes Heir Plans To Pass On Rs 91,000 Crore Fortune To His 51-year-old Gardener – News18

Nicolas Puech, an 80-year-old primary shareholder of the luxury goods company Hermes, is planning to adopt his 51-year-old gardener. He will also be the beneficiary of his 11-dollar billion (Rs 91,000 crore) fortune. Nicolas Puech is the grandson of Hermes founder Thierry Hermès. Puech submitted his resignation from the board of directors of Hermes in 2014. He, however, has a 5 percent stake in the company despite his resignation. Puech is not married and has no children. Reportedly, he has also started preparations for the transfer of his property to the gardener. Puech is taking the help of legal advisors to complete this work. Adopting or declaring an older person the heir of the property in France is a very complicated process. As per reports, this 51-year-old gardener has married a Spanish woman and has 2 children. His name, however, has not been revealed in the public domain yet.

Not only this massive sum of Rs 91,000 crore, but Puech has also gifted many other luxurious items to his gardener. According to reports, Puech has already transferred one of his properties in Morocco and a villa in Montreux, Switzerland to him. The total value of these properties is 59 lakh dollars (Rs 50 crore).

Social media users are wondering what prompted Puech to transfer such a massive sum to his gardener. He could have also given this money to one of his family members, but he didn’t. According to reports, in 2014, Mr Peuch quit the company’s supervisory board in acrimonious circumstances. This happened after the fashion rival company LVMH acquired 23 percent of Hermes. This was done as part of a hostile takeover bid, largely by stealth. Puech’s other family members set up a holding company with their shares to block a takeover by LVMH. Puech, however, held on to his stake in the company. This led to a feud with the family members which might have influenced Puech’s unconventional choice of heir.

UBS (formerly known as the Union Bank of Switzerland), is a worldwide financial services company. It has said in one of its studies that many more billionaires will take such steps in the future.