Hermès heir Nicolas Puech, 80, plans to adopt former gardener in wealth transfer twist

Puech, a descendant of Hermès luxury fashion house founder Thierry Hermès, currently owns over 20% of the company's shares.

Some of these shares were resold to Bernard Arnault's LVMH conglomerate, a decision by Puech that led to heated debates and resulted in a rupture within the Puech family.

With a value of 11 billion dollars in Hermès shares, the billionaire is seeking to prevent his family from inheriting his fortune after his demise.

Puech, who has never been married nor fathered any children, proclaimed his intention to consider his former gardener, a 51-year-old Moroccan, as his son and his gardener's wife as his daughter. Despite the unavailability of further personal information, it is known that the gardener was brought up in humble conditions in Marrakesh.

Regarding his plan, the billionaire is endeavoring to legally adopt the gardener. Nevertheless, due to laws requiring evidence of a childhood connection with the proposed adoptee, it is unclear whether the court will grant this adoption.

If he simply bequeathed the property to the gardener in his will, due to legal stipulations, the family could potentially contest the authenticity of the will. Court practices in such cases usually favor the family. Similarly, this would be the case if he were to donate the property.

A similar case took place a decade ago in France, where a French court ordered the return of funds received by François-Marie Banier from L'oreal heiress, Liliane Bettencourt.

Bettencourt's daughter, Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, contended that Banier manipulated her elderly mother, who generously rewarded him for their friendship, by transferring him a substantial sum that reached around a billion dollars.

Previously, the billionaire assigned his fortune to the Isocrates Foundation, but he currently plans to rescind this. According to press reports, Puech’s decision to adopt the gardener is an attempt to safeguard his property from any undue interference from organizations after his death.