Hermès heir awarding 51-year-old gardener Billion Dollar fortune
This story keeps getting crazier. Last year the heir to Hermès shocked the world by deciding to adopt his gardener to gift them his $11BN fortune. But last week he claimed the money… vanished. Why did he leave it to his gardener? Where did the money go? Here’s what I found:
Puech is a fifth-generation descendant of Thierry Hermès, who founded the luxury fashion house in 1837. It all started as a small, Paris workshop that made horse harnesses. But today, the company is valued at $220 BILLION.
Over time, Hermès evolved and diversified into fashion. Iconic products like the Hermès scarf established the family name as a luxury status symbol.
Fast forward 187 years and 5 generations, Puech plans to pass his estate of $11B to his gardener. All anyone knows about the mystery gardener is that they come from a modest Moroccan family. And this isn’t the first time Puech has made large gifts to them.
He’s already gifted properties in Marrakesh, Morocco, and Montreux, Switzerland – worth a combined $5.9 million. But not everyone is a fan of his generosity…
Initially, Puech planned to donate his entire $11B fortune to the Isocrates Foundation: A small charity for journalism. But then he changed his mind. As you can imagine, he annoyed a number of people with that decision. Including his family…
In 2011 Hermes faced a hostile takeover attempt by LVMH. The family created a private holding to stop this attempt – but one family member didn’t join the holding: Puech. Now he plans to gift his wealth to his gardener, he’s defying the tradition of keeping wealth.
To facilitate the transfer of his wealth, Puech was planning to adopt his 51-year-old gardener to pass on his $13 billion estate. But just last week, the money seems to have vanished. Where did it go?
Puech claims he has no idea. He’s accused his wealth manager, Eric Freymond of “gigantic fraud” in the disappearance of the $13 BILLION in Hermès shares that he was planning to leave his gardener. But the courts didn’t agree with him.
They found that Puech willingly gave Freymond access to his bank accounts, and let him manage his money. And although it’s not certain where the money went, there’s one thing for sure. It’s not likely to go to his gardener anymore.
But I can’t help but think “What if it did go to the gardener?” Put yourself in their shoes. Your life is changed forever – now what..? Puech thought he was doing them a favor, but would he really be helping him? Will the money destroy the gardener’s life and his family?
This story in particular reminds me of a quote: “Wealth is as potent as any sword. When mastered it can bring the world to its knees. When not, it can bring the owner to his knees.”
With wealth, there are repercussions of inheriting that level of power overnight. And it makes you think twice about: how much is a “gift” – and at what level does gifting power actually become a curse?
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Ewan @CMC