An assistant to the heir to the fashion house Hermès stole $13 billion from him.
Airmail published an investigative article about how Hermès heir Nicolas Puech and other wealthy individuals lost their fortunes to financier Eric Freymond.
In 1998, Nicolas Puech, the fifth-generation heir to Hermès brand founder Thierry Hermès, handed over management of all his shares and investments to financier Eric Freymond. According to Puech, his family trusted his manager, so for a long time he didn't inquire about his multi-billion-dollar fortune: "It was done to make my life easier. He paid for everything that needed to be paid."
However, in 2022, it suddenly became known that Nicolas Puech, one of the top names on the Forbes list, had practically no money or stocks left in his account. The 83-year-old heir to the fashion house, who never started a family, wanted to thank his gardener and bequeath him a portion of his $13 billion fortune, but was ultimately unable to do so.
An investigation revealed that all these years, Eric Freymond, instead of managing his client's fortune, had been selling it off. Moreover, as it turns out, Puech wasn't his only victim. Swiss actress Ursula Andress handed over $25 million to the financier for management and was also left with nothing.
Eric Freymond himself, realizing his scam had been exposed, committed suicide. After his death, it was revealed that he had always dreamed of becoming super-rich, and to achieve this, he married Caroline van Berchem, a woman from an influential Geneva family. According to the publication's sources, it was members of the van Berchem family who introduced Freymond to the Hermès clan.
As a reminder, in 2014, under pressure from other family members, Nicolas Puech resigned from the supervisory board of the Hermès fashion house, known for its unique leather goods like the Birkin bag—a coveted item for fashionistas worldwide. Puech disagreed with the brand's acquisition by the LVMH group and left the fashion house, retaining a 5% stake in the company, which Freymond later sold.
Photo: Andreas Rentz/Gettyimages
