Hermès Believes Heir No Longer Holds Shares Worth €14 Billion

(Bloomberg) – The enigma surrounding Hermès shares its shares of approximately € 14 billion ($ 16.2 billion) inherited by a member of the controlling family of the luxury property company.

Hermès International SCA believes that Nicolas Puech has been in the Birkin bag manufacturer for a while, and the executive President Axel Dumas said that Puech has added a new bending to a long -term legal war on where it was more complex last week.

Dumas told journalists on Wednesday, and in his most detailed comments on the subject, he said, “I have been certain for a long time when Nicolas Puech hasn’t held its shares anymore,” he said. “That’s why we started legal proceedings.” The manager said he did not believe that the shares could be saved.

The disagreement of Puech’s shares in Hermès was among the most lasting mysteries of one of France’s highest profile institutional wars. More than a decade ago, the founder of luxury property rival Bernard Arnault and Holding Lvmh Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE announced that he secretly collected a share in Hermès. The grandchildren who controlled Hermès came together and fought successfully with unwanted progress.

The fate of Puech’s shares was never clarified even after Arnault’s agreement with Hermès 2014. The puzzle deepened in 2023, when Puech accused Eric Freymond, a former adviser to the former depositor of Puech. Freymond died last week in Switzerland.

The relationship between Puech and Freymond, a fifth generation heir, led to a court case in Geneva, which is mostly connected to about 6 million shares in Hermès, one of the most valuable luxury goods in the world.

Dumas described Freymond’s death as “tragic” and “sad”.

Puech and Freymond lawyers could not be reached to comment immediately.

Hermès clan, which counts more than 100 members, is one of the richest families in Europe. If the Swiss -based Puech still holds its shares, it would be the only largest investor in the supplier of handbags and colored silk scarves established in 1837.

Dumas comes from the sixth generation of the company’s founder. He was the cousin of the late Jean-Louis Dumas Puech, who once ruled Hermès.

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