An heir to the Hermes luxury fashion brand fortune is entangled in fresh courtroom drama after he allegedly defaulted on a promise to sell shares to the Qatari sheikh.
Nicolas Puech, 82, the great-grandson of the fashion house’s founder Thierry Hermes, has been slapped with a lawsuit on behalf of Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of the State of Qatar.
Filed in the District of Columbia by a company representing the Qatari leader, Honor America Capital, the complaint seen by the New York Times accuses Puech of breaching his contract with them to sell shares.
The lawsuit filed in March states that Puech holds a five percent stake in the French luxury retail giant, and he agreed to sell more than six million shares, trading at $270.89 each, to the Qatari royal family.
It appeals to a judge to order him to honor the sale and pay $1.3 million in damages for ‘lost profits, opportunity costs, and reputational harm.’
Puech is accused of delaying the sale twice. According to his lawyer, this was because he was ‘unable’ to access the shares himself so could not pass them on.
The Hermes heir also previously told courts in Switzerland, where he lives, that his shares had vanished while they were being handled by a wealth manager.
Letters filed with the lawsuit detail how the deal was discussed over several months and signed off on February 10.
Nicolas Puech, 82, an heir to the Hermes luxury fashion brand fortune, is entangled in fresh courtroom drama after he allegedly defaulted on a promise to sell shares to the Qatari sheikh
Puech, the great-grandson of the fashion house’s founder Thierry Hermes, has been slapped with a lawsuit on behalf of Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of the State of Qatar
Shoppers queue to enter the French high fashion luxury clothing manufacturer Hermes store
Hermes was worth $300 billion in mid-February, after share prices rocketed more than 200 percent over the last five years, making a five percent stake incredibly valuable.
It comes after Puech hit the headlines in 2023 for reportedly attempting to leave a substantial portion of his vast wealth to his longtime gardener and handyman – though the plan never materialized.
Puech moved to adopt his former greenskeeper, 51, which would have made the worker the billionaire’s rightful heir, according to sources cited by Swiss publication Tribune de Genève at the time.
The Hermes scion, who does not have kids and is not married, is said to have referred to his former employee – reportedly from a ‘modest Moroccan family’ – and his wife as his ‘children’.
The gardener was poised to inherit significant assets from his former employer, including properties in his native Morocco, as well as Puech’s retreat in Montreux, Switzerland.
However, the plan fell through after Puech told a Swiss court he does not actually have much of a fortune left to hand out.
Puech’s lawyers said he does not own the $13 billion in assets of Hermès International SCA (a 5.7 percent stake) which is controlled by his family, who have a total net worth of about $155 billion.
The attempt to adopt his greenskeeper came off the back of suspected family tensions, which arose in part due to a rival takeover of a significant stake in Hermès shares.
Pictured: Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of the State of Qatar
Kim Kardashian holds an American Horror Story script while heading to set in New York City. Kardashian carried a giant $100k Hermes Birkin bag
A couple walk with Hermes shopping bags as they leave a Hermes store in Paris
Luxury behemoth LVMH, owned by Bernard Arnault – one of the world’s richest people – is said to have acquired a major stake in Hermès after Puech resigned from his forefather’s supervisory board, citing family problems.
Puech had in 2011 pledged to bestow his fortune upon the Isocrates Foundation – a philanthropic organization he founded which provides grants to ‘support the fundamental role civil society organizations play in safeguarding and stimulating public debate’.
According to its website, the foundation ‘funds and supports public interest journalism and media organizations committed to strengthening the field of investigative journalism’.
Meanwhile, the adoption of adults is not a typical occurrence in Switzerland, where Puech resides for tax reasons.
