Billionaire plans to adopt ‘modest’ gardener, 51, so he can give him his fortune
Clearly pleased with the job he's done, the billionaire descendant of luxury design house Hermès has decided to adopt his gardener after making the call to leave his fortune to the handyman.
According to Swiss publication Tribune de Genève, Nicolas Puech is determined to make the man, whom he's become quite fond of, his rightful heir. The fifth-generation descendant of Thierry Hermès, who founded the famous brand in 1837, is estimated to be worth approximately £9billion, which is 6% of the business valued at over £183billion.
Without children and having never tied the not, the 80-year-old has only one man in mind to inherit his fortune — his 51-year-old gardener, who reportedly comes from a modest Moroccan family.
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The shocking decision will change the greenskeeper's life forever. If all is approved, the working-class gentleman will inherit incredible assets, including properties in his homeland and a stunning retreat in Montreux, Switzerland, worth £5million, with a further £4billion set to land in his bank account.
It comes amid reports that the business tycoon has fallen out with his family members over a rival takeover of a significant stake in Hermès shares. Bernard Arnault's luxury powerhouse LVMH bagged a majority stake in Hermès after Puech stepped down from the company's supervisory board, complaining of family issues.
However, getting the adoption over the line won't come easy, as the pair are set to face various legal challenges. Back in 2011, Puech pledged to give his billions to the Isocrates Foundation, a philanthropic organisation, which provides grants to 'support the fundamental role civil society organisations, like public journalism, play in safeguarding and stimulating public debate'.
In addition, adopting adults is very much a rare occurrence in Switzerland, making the whole process very difficult. Typically, the adopting party would have to display some kind of evidence that they'd interacted with the adoptee during their youth. In addition, the adoptee has to have lived with their new parent for at least a year as a minor. But with the billionaire having overcome so many obstacles in the business sphere, he'll likely go above and beyond to ensure he gets his plan over the line.
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