The last photo his friends saw of him was from the summer. Was it the last? The one before? They ignore him, they struggle to contact him, his phone is dead and their letters go unanswered. Jeans and ironed sky blue shirt, turquoise and lemon yellow sneakers, Nicolas Puech, hand placed on a terracotta jar from which laurels spring, smiles. The image, those close to him are reassured, shows him happy, looking handsome, just in his face could we distinguish a tense veil – the reflection of the spicy Andalusian sun? The image was taken, say those who recognize the mossy patina of the Spanish property, at the “Quatre vents”, the beloved domain of the octogenarian billionaire, holder of 5.8% of Hermès shares, fortune estimated at more than 10 billion euros. An isolated building, at altitude, escaping from prying eyes, from unwelcome people, from questions.
It is there, between laurels and cacti, that he spends as much time as possible, surrounded by his gardener Jadil Butrak, a marathon runner’s silhouette, elegant attire, and his companion, Maria Paz Pineiro, a dapper, quick-witted brunette. to raise your voice. Jadil, an outstanding rider who taught many of Nicolas’s friends to ride, at the time when he still saw them, takes care of his benefactor’s horses, while Maria Paz runs the household and looks after the old man, no without any abruptness – she has a lot to do. In the winter, the trio takes up residence in Switzerland, in Valais, where the old man settled in 1999 thanks to a tax package negotiated with the cantonal authorities. The village of Orsières has been accustomed for almost thirty years to this colorful family, the elegant old gentleman, driving a brown Bentley, and the couple of devoted servants, always present at his side, even abandoning the house in Montreux which he offered to them, among many others and even more sumptuous. Little by little, these fifty-year-olds were able to win over the lonely and wounded heart of the son of the family, whom his parents, the three branches of Hermès, view with suspicion. Isn’t it him, the good-natured and freed Uncle Nicolas, who, in 2011, lent his accounts allowing Bernard Arnault and LVMH to discreetly enter into the capital of the famous leather goods manufacturer until they owned more than 20%? A stock market assault which terrified the shareholders of the august house, suddenly ordered to lock all their shares within one entity, H51. Everyone did so, relieved to have escaped their competitor’s raid, all except Nicolas Puech. Fiercely attached to his independence, anxious to keep control of his titles, he thus enjoys annoying his clan, worrying them, sometimes believing that he is taking revenge on them who, for so long, have reproached him for his carelessness. , his taste for the sun and pleasures.
Worrying isolation
More than ten years have passed since the LVMH-Hermès war. And Nicolas Puech, traveling between Morocco, Mexico, Spain and his beloved Valais, is now discreet. Too much ? Invitations that he no longer honors, calls that he doesn’t return, sometimes a few brief text messages, always kind. Since Covid, his friends have been worried. He is said to be tired, spending his days in front of his television, sometimes doing crosswords, shopping delivered to his home, is it age that has so calmed down the happy guy? The day before Christmas, the Geneva press revealed that a report had been filed with the Entremont APEA, the child and adult protection authority. 20 pages written by lawyer Yannis Sakkas, advisor to Eric Freymond, the former property advisor to Nicolas Puech, dismissed by the latter in September 2022, to which are added around fifty pages of annexes, attempting to demonstrate that the aging heir is said to be kept in “emotional isolation” by the couple, who have obtained from him in recent years real estate donations, estimated in this document at around sixty million Swiss francs.
Reading this report is frightening. The generous, wealthy man offers with a liberality bordering on great art. Or would it be weakness? 53 property titles are thus given to the gardener and his partner: residences in Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, hundreds of hectares, thousands of square meters of stone. Gigantic gifts, sometimes made on a whim. Like this letter written by hand by the Hermès shareholder on a letterhead from the La Mamounia hotel, in Marrakech, on October 7, 2015, and addressed to its banker: “By debiting the account under heading, please transfer the sum of 1,575,000 euros in favor of Mr. Jadil Butrak for the purchase of a villa in Marrakech, this is a donation. “These are donations made between friends, it represents less than 1% of my client’s fortune,” sweeps away his new lawyer, Jörn-Albert Bostelmann, who considers this report “stupid”.
Stupid ? The new council is today a powerful man, capable of acting sovereignly, the heir Hermes having in fact, via a strangely undated power of attorney, given him “power of attorney with power of substitution for the purpose of representing him in the matter : financial management, administrative procedure, adoption, inheritance and family issues for the broadest service. The power of attorney is signed by the octogenarian and the couple Jadil Pineiro.
After adoption, the PACS
A blank check which did not panic the Valais authorities, of astonishing lightness. They do not seem to mind that the billionaire and his servants are represented by the same lawyer, moreover able to decide everything for them. Almost unlimited powers. Less than two months after its submission, the report is in fact on the verge of being closed without further action. An end of which Eric Freymond and his lawyer might not even be informed, according to Valais procedure, which would make it impossible to appeal this classification. However, the social services investigation was rapid to say the least, even superficial. Nicolas Puech’s friends thus regret never having been approached by these social workers, to whom they would have confided their distress, their doubts. His former advisors have not been approached, nor even his historical notary, recently sidelined, nor yet his numerous lawyers, nor his bankers, on the other hand, a doctor from Valais examined Nicolas Puech and concluded that he acted in full possession of his means. Neither control, nor isolation, a sovereign, enlightened autonomy. And millions of Swiss francs offered in a few years do not seem to merit any scrupulous study.
The information will certainly delight the billionaire, his two friends and their lawyer, especially if a call cannot interfere. Nicolas Puech will thus be able to continue to radically reshape his testimonial arrangements, made before a notary in 2011 in favor of the public interest foundation Isocrate, to which he joined that same year by an inheritance pact bequeathing him all of his Hermès shares. Thus, all these changes would result in the stripping of the philanthropic foundation, which was his great work for so long. Especially since some are today talking about the possibility of organizing a civil partnership for him and his friend, who is not married to his partner. A surprisingly modern civil contract for the great-grandson Hermès, a gentleman with old-fashioned manners, linking the octogenarian to the man he always presented as “his son”, isn’t that furiously transgressive? An idea whose existence lawyer Bostelmann categorically denies: “Signing a PACS is totally wrong.” The lawyer, however, admits to preparing an adoption of the devoted servant. Adopted son or civil partner, the domestic worker could tomorrow inherit nearly 10 billion euros from his benefactor. Hermès will perhaps one day count among its circle of shareholders, Jadil Butrak, the companion of an old, solitary uncle. Too much ?
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