A gardener could inherit the heritage of Hermès

The last descendant of the luxury maison Hermès is the octogenarian Nicolas Puech, a billionaire businessman who currently owns 5.7% of the company. When combined with the value of real estate assets, including a residence in La Fouly, his wealth reaches €10 billion. The shocking news is that Puech has allegedly chosen his domestic collaborator, a 51-year-old Moroccan, as the fortunate inheritor of his fortune. This decision has sparked a controversy as the inheritance, originally promised to the Swiss NGO, the Isocrate Association, has been redirected. The association is reportedly upset about this unexpected turn of events. At present, all possibilities of incapacity circumvention have been ruled out, as the octogenarian is deemed to be in good health and capable of making sound decisions. A legal battle is anticipated among the involved parties, which, according to this article, could last for years. Regarding the impending legal dispute, the general secretary of the association, Nicolas Borsinger, interviewed by Tribune de Genève, describes it as the "sudden and unilateral cancellation of a succession pact, deemed null and unfounded."

In essence, it is a sum of money that is tempting for everyone. But who are the two parties involved? The domestic collaborator is married to a Spanish woman and is the father of two children. He strengthened his relationship with Nicolas Puech during the lockdown and has previously been rewarded by the entrepreneur with a property in Marrakech (worth about one and a half million euros) and a villa in Montreux. As for the Isocrate Swiss Association, it is an organization founded by Puech himself, dedicated to combating fake news and the sensationalization of news. A similar case to Nicolas Puech's can be found in the story of Karl Lagerfeld, who bequeathed his €170 million inheritance to his cat, Choupette. For Lagerfeld, Choupette was one of his greatest inspirations for many years and, therefore, deserving of that sum.

The designer was not the first to have the imaginative idea of leaving their inheritance to an animal. The first wealthy cat was Tommasino, inheriting the substantial estate of Maria Assunta, a wealthy Italian real estate mogul from Potenza. Leona Helmsley, a businesswoman in the hotel industry, left her inheritance to her dog, a Maltese named Trouble, in 2007. One of the most absurd inheritances in history is that of T.M. Zink, a lawyer who left a significant amount to his family with the goal of building the Zink Womenless Library, a library that was not supposed to admit women or feature books written by women.