80-year-old childless and unmarried owner of an $11 billion Hermès fashion fortune Nicolas Puech says he plans to adopt his 51-year-old gardener and make him the official heir to a portion of his riches from the Hermès dynasty, multiple outlets reported, adding Nicolas Puech to a list of the extremely wealthy making surprising decisions about where to bequeath their fortunes.
Puech inherited the wealth as a descendant of Thierry Hermès, who established the Hermès fashion house in 1837. Today, the company is best known for its iconic, and very pricey, Birkin bags.
Puech owns between five and six percent of the shares in Hermès, according to numerous reports. Tribune de Genève said the gardener could inherit as much as half of the wealth from Puech.
The gardener has not been named publicly but is reportedly of Moroccan descent and married with two children. He may also inherit US$5.9 million (nearly C$7.9 million) worth of property assets from Puech, who owns property in Switzerland, Morocco, Marrakesh, and Montreux.
Regardless, Puech has allegedly already initiated the adoption processes to position the unnamed gardener as his true heir. There may be legal battles to come surrounding the allocation of Puech’s estate.
Puech is not the only ultra-wealthy person to make unconventional decisions about their will and estate. After he died in 2010, fashion designer Alexander McQueen left £50,000 (C$85,550) to his three dogs, Minter, Juice, and Callum.
In 1988, a cat named Blackie inherited £7 million (about C$12 million, by today’s standards) from their deceased owner, who was an antique dealer. The owner, Ben Rea, did not leave any money to his family — though Blackie went on to become the wealthiest cat ever.
