As one of the heirs of luxury group Hermès claims his fortune has vanished, the question is whether he has sold part of his shares to LVMH, or placed them in a trust. The mystery remains unresolved, according to an investigation by Swiss press group Tamedia, which has unearthed several possible leads.

Tamedia, which notably owns Geneva newspaper La Tribune de Genève, published a long report on Sunday about the intricate case of the Hermès shares owned by Nicolas Puech. The latter, a great-grandson of the French leather goods label’s founder, inherited more than 6 million shares, equivalent to a 5.76% stake in Hermès. At the current price, Puech’s shares are worth CHF13 billion (€13.8 billion), and Puech is claiming they have been stolen from him.

Tamedia wrote that the investigation has pored over “hundreds of pages of legal and financial documents” which “do not reveal where the shares are now but, as though in a treasure hunt, map the sequence of events that led to their disappearance.”

According to Tamedia’s newspapers, Switzerland-based Puech, now in his eighties and the largest individual shareholder in Hermès, has claimed that his shares “vanished” as a result of unspecified “stratagems.”

In a complaint filed in Geneva in 2023, Puech accused his former wealth manager, Swiss businessman Eric Freymond, alongside the president of wealth management office Phidias Gestion, of having “cleverly misappropriated” his assets, without explaining how this happened, wrote Tamedia. Puech’s complaint against Freymond was dismissed.

The first possible lead Tamedia has followed to shed light on the disappearance of “this treasure” concerns the stake in Hermès which was quietly acquired by luxury giant LVMH, amounting eventually to 23%.

According to the investigation, bank accounts in Geneva belonging to Puech had been used to make “subtle arrangements” designed to feed into Bernard Arnault‘s empire “millions of Hermès shares.” This raises the question of whether Puech has in fact sold part of his shares, perhaps even “without necessarily being aware of it, since he did not manage these accounts himself,” according to Tamedia’s newspapers.

“This theory has the merit of being simple,” but “there are various elements contradicting it, suggesting instead that the billionaire may have been able to hide his shares elsewhere,” according to the investigation.

Bahamas bank account

The report’s author speculated that Puech, caught between “LVMH’s overtures and the pressure exerted by his family,” with which his relationship is “cold,” may have “sought to shelter his shares early on,” perhaps by resorting to a “trust.”

The report cited a message sent by Puech to his wealth manager, in which the former said he had transferred his securities into a “trust,” and mentioned a trip made to the Bahamas in 2013 by Puech and Freymond, during which a bank account was opened. Puech’s goal was to shift part of his assets outside Switzerland for tax avoidance purposes, said a person who was “aware of this trip” cited in the report, which didn’t name the person in question. However, according to the same source, this shift did not involve Puech’s Hermès shares.

At this stage, it is “impossible” to know whether these shares have been transferred “away from Geneva,” or whether Puech did create this “trust,” said the report’s author, who for the time being can only continue to cross-check sources and documents.

A third possibly lead explored by the investigation was that of an “oversight.” The report mentioned conflicting statements made by Puech’s lawyer, who said that his client hasn’t gone under. “My client doesn’t know anything, he wasn’t involved, he forgot,” his lawyer reportedly said during a conversation with Puech’s former wealth manager and a foundation to which Puech had initially promised to leave his fortune.

The mystery surrounding Puech’s shares has been the subject of various press investigations, but hasn’t yet been solved.

“Nicolas Puech’s lawyers have made enquiries with banks, lawyers and family offices,” including Phidias Gestion, and “we should therefore know more in the coming months,” said Tamedia’s newspapers.

Contacted by the AFP agency, Phidias Gestion has declined to comment.