Hermès-arvingen – miljardär, bedragen eller bedragare?

Nicolas Puech agreed to sell his multibillion-dollar stake in his family’s luxury goods empire to the royal family of Qatar, but then said he couldn’t gain access to his shares.

Nicolas Puech is an heir to the Hermès fortune whose riches are shrouded in mystery. He either is or is not a billionaire, and may or may not have a sizable stake in his family’s luxury brand, depending on when and where these matters come up.

A new lawsuit filed in federal court late last month says that Puech recently claimed he does hold that stake, about 5% of the company, and had signed a deal to sell more than 6 million shares in Hermès to the royal family of Qatar. But Puech has also previously told courts in Switzerland, where he lives, that his shares had disappeared in the hands of a wealth manager.

The complaint in federal court in the District of Columbia, initially public but now under seal, accused Puech of failing to honor the sale, adding fresh intrigue to the enduring enigma of his wealth and offering a glimpse into the luxury ambitions of Qatar’s monarchy. The original suit was rejected on a technicality by the court, and the plaintiff has refiled with a motion to keep it under seal.

Puech, 82, is a great-grandson of Thierry Hermès, a 19th-century saddle maker who turned his business into a fashion powerhouse revered even by other fashion brands. Hermès — known, among other things, for the exclusive Birkin bags it sells only to insiders — was valued at $300 billion in mid-February, just days after Puech signed a deal to sell his shares, then worth more than $15 billion, according to filings in the suit.

It is not the first time Puech and his slice of the family fortune have been the subjects of great debate and litigation.

In 2023, he made waves after moving to adopt his middle-aged, married Moroccan gardener to bequeath him half his fortune, prompting resistance from a charity he had formed, which expected the inheritance.

In a separate matter, Puech told Swiss judges that his longtime financial manager had swindled him out of his shares. But an appeals court last year rejected claims of fraud and found Puech knowingly gave the financial manager free rein to handle his affairs.

And there have been questions about Puech’s stake in Hermès — and just how much of it may remain — ever since he alienated his family by siding with a rival luxury tycoon, Bernard Arnault of LVMH, in Arnault’s failed bid to gain control of Hermès more than a decade ago.

The new lawsuit, filed by Honor America Capital, accuses Puech of breach of the contract to sell his shares, and asks the court to order him to make good on his pledge and to pay $1.3 billion in damages for “lost profits, opportunity costs, and reputational harm.” The company was formed by the deputy emir of Qatar in Washington in February, and court documents show it is backed by the emir himself.

A contract and letters filed with the complaint show the deal was discussed for months and signed on Feb. 10. A representative for Honor America Capital wrote to Puech’s lawyer in Switzerland to “confirm that we have secured a full funding commitment from His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar” to close the deal.

But Puech twice delayed the share transfer, based on letters sent by his representative and filed with the court. On March 19, his lawyer wrote to the monarchy’s company to say that despite “best and repeated efforts,” his client was “unable” to get his shares and had concluded it would be “futile” to set another closing date.

Lawyers for the parties did not respond to requests for comment. But Puech’s past could not have been lost on the Qataris, who have an expansive portfolio of high-end retail and luxury brand holdings — including the Harrods and Printemps department stores — through their sovereign wealth fund and investment vehicles backed by the royal family. Still, the chances of getting a chunk of Hermès, apparently outweighed any concerns about doing business with Puech, some experts suggest.

The share price of Hermès has spiked more than 200% in five years, and the brand is increasingly hot, even as other luxury purveyors have faltered. Gaining a 5% stake would be “super valuable,” said Eric Talley, a Columbia University professor specializing in corporate and transactional law.

It would be difficult to calculate damages, based on the structure of the deal and legal rules about remedies, Talley said, so rather than sorting it out, a judge could simply order Puech to complete the deal. Even if it turns out that Puech is correct and the shares are not immediately accessible, a ruling in their favor would give the Qataris legal leverage if his estate is eventually untangled and the shares resurface.

But prying loose those shares could prove extremely challenging. Puech has filed a complaint in France against his former wealth manager, reiterating the claims he made in Switzerland that the shares had disappeared.

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