Anti-‘Succession’ Succession: Hermès Heir to Pass On Fortune to Gardener
80-year-old billionaire Nicolas Puech, the fifth-generation heir of Hermès founder Thierry Hermès, is reportedly planning an unconventional succession move. Puech, worth between 9 and 10 billion Swiss francs, is in the process of legally adopting his 51-year-old former gardener and handyman.
Puech, unmarried and childless, owns around 5% or 6% of the $220 billion luxury fashion house Hermès, making him one of Switzerland’s wealthiest individuals. The billionaire is reportedly actively transferring his wealth to his former gardener, whose identity remains undisclosed, with reports suggesting the gardener could inherit half of Puech’s fortune.
Puech’s history with Hermès provides context for this unconventional choice. In 2014, he resigned from the company’s supervisory board amid acrimony following a hostile takeover attempt by fashion rival LVMH. The feud strained relationships within the Hermès family.
Puech’s plan is part of a larger trend known as the great wealth transfer, where billionaires are expected to pass on $5.2 trillion in the coming decades. However, adopting an adult, as Puech intends, is a rare move. He faces hurdles in Swiss adoption laws, which require a year of shared residence when the adoptee was a minor.
Additionally, the inheritance may have already been spoken for. Puech pledged his fortune to the Isocrates, an anti-misinformation foundation he started in 2011. Attempts to cancel this commitment with the organization may result in legal challenges.
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