Nicolas Puech, one of the heirs of the French house of leather goods Hermès, calls on Monday through his lawyer to shed light on the mysterious disappearance of his actions, after the death of Eric Freymond, his former wealth manager.
Last week, the Geneva Tribune et The point had reported that Nicolas Freymond, against whom Nicolas Puech had complained, ended his life.
“It was with sadness that I learned of the death of Mr. Eric Freymond, in tragic circumstances,” said Nicolas Puech, in a statement sent to AFP by his lawyer.
“I really hope that the circumstances of his death will be quickly clarified by the Swiss authorities,” added the press release from Nicolas Puech, who wished to send “his sincere thoughts to his family”, “despite the public and judicial disputes” which opposed them.
“A friend and an advisor” for 25 years
Eric Freymond was for 25 years “a friend and an advisor with whom the collaboration has always been in total confidence”, but “our relationship was unfortunately broke following facts of extreme gravity related to my six million titles of the company Hermès International on which all the light must still be made,” added Nicolas Puech in the press release transmitted by his lawyer.
Nicolas Puech, 82, is one of the great-grandchildren of the founder of the leather goods house on rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré. He had inherited 6 million shares, representing 5.76% of the capital of Hermès, which during the current price represents an amount of almost 14.5 billion euros.
Geneva justice innocected Eric Freymond
One of the questions always not resolved in this case with multiple twists and turns is whether these titles had been sold or not when Bernard Arnault, the boss of LVMH, had discreetly accumulated participation in his competitor.
But the case had taken a new lap in 2023, when Nicolas Puech, often described as in cold with the rest of his family, had claimed to be ruined and had filed a complaint against his former fortune manager, believing that he had used subtle montages to make his actions disappear.
The Geneva justice had innocent Eric Freymond, but the heir Hermès, who resides in Switzerland, also filed a similar complaint in France. “The search for the truth must take precedence” and “be established by justice, with serenity and rigor”, added the press release.
Last week, Eric Freymond’s lawyers had reacted to the death of their client by explaining that the former fortune-in-law had been “broken by the violence of the suspicion”.