Nicolas Puech, heir to the legendary fashion house Hermès, is rumored to be planning a stunning succession tale that includes adopting his 51-year-old gardener.
The billionaire, who is eighty years old, is unmarried and has no children. According to the Swiss newspaper Tribune de Geneve, he intends to formally name his “former gardener and handyman” from a “modest Moroccan family” as his rightful heir.
The decision to leave his vast fortune and real-estate holdings to his gardener has prompted heated curiosity.
Puech, a fifth-generation descendant of Thierry Hermès, who founded the luxury fashion brand in 1837, owns a significant stake in the now $220 billion-valued firm, and is one of Switzerland’s wealthiest people, with an estimated net worth of $10.3 billion to $11.4 billion.
Puech allegedly launched legal proceedings, aided by a formidable legal team, to legitimize the gardener’s adoption, which is a critical component of his altered inheritance plans.
The gardener is apparently married to a Spanish woman and has two children, and he stands to receive a sizable amount of Puech’s money, which includes $5.9 million in residences in Marrakesh, Morocco and Montreux, Switzerland.
Puech’s history with Hermès provides a glimpse into the motivation behind this choice for his heir.
When LVMH, a rival luxury firm, purchased a significant share in Hermès in 2014, it sparked an ugly dispute inside the family.
Puech’s resignation from the company’s board at this period of turbulence signaled irreversible strife among his family members.
“He resigned because he has felt beleaguered for several years by members of his family, who have attacked him on several fronts, not only regarding LVMH,” a representative for Puech said at the time.
Puech’s unique idea confronts enormous barriers, including clearing complex legal hurdles for adult adoption, which is extremely rare in Switzerland.
Reports suggest requirements for such adoptions demand a prior relationship during the adoptee’s minor years — a condition potentially challenging to fulfil.
Moreover, conflicting commitments loom large.
Puech had previously pledged his riches to the Isocrates foundation, which he had founded to counteract misinformation. Attempts to withdraw this pledge may result in a protracted court struggle.
In a statement published with Fortune, the foundation stated that any unilateral revocation of the inheritance arrangement would result in a legal struggle.
According to reports, the adoption maneuver may have been used as a legal ploy to prevent any intervention from the foundation in Puech’s bequest.