Hermès Heir, 80, Worth $11 Billion Plans to Give Vast Fortune to His 51-Year-Old Gardener
Nicolas Puech, 80, is the fifth generation heir of Thierry Hermès
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Hermes storefrontNicolas Puech, the 80-year-old heir to the Hermès fortune, is reportedly planning to distribute his wealth in an unexpected fashion.
According to Swiss publication Tribune de Genève, as cited by the New York Post, Puech is reportedly planning to designate his “former gardener and handyman,” an unnamed 51-year-old man as his heir. Puech, who is unmarried and has no children of his own, stands to pass down billions of dollars of the Hermès fortune, currently valued over $220 billion.
Puech reportedly owns between 5% and 6% of the house, which puts his net worth between $10 billion and $11 billion, and the Swiss publication reports that he could be passing on half of his inheritance to his former gardener. He is allegedly still rearranging his benefactors if his estate and could pass on the rest of his money elsewhere.
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According to Tribune de Genève, Puech has already begun the legal proceedings to make the man his heir. The unidentified man is reportedly of Moroccan descent, married to a woman from Spain and has a family of his own. He also stands to inherit property from Puech in Marrakesh, Morocco, and Montreux, Switzerland, valued at $5.9 million.
Puech is the fifth-generation heir of Thierry Hermès, who founded the fashion house — which has become most known for its Birkin bags — in 1837 in Paris. He left the supervisory board in 2014 on not-so-great terms when LVMH acquired 23% of Hermès, according to Fortune.
Related: Kim Kardashian Steps Out with a Super Rare Hermès Handbag Worth Upwards of $300K
“He resigned because he has felt for several years beleaguered by members of his family, who have attacked him on several fronts, not only regarding LVMH,” a spokesperson for Puech said at the time, Fashion Network reported via AFP.
“He has had some very bad experiences and felt very badly and felt harshly criticized on numerous occasions, even while he is very attached to Hermès.”
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