Fifteen years after his takeover offensive on Hermès, Bernard Arnault and his French luxury group LVMH are caught up in an old saga between two industry giants. An heir to the accessories specialist claims that his shares in the family jewel have been expropriated – and is demanding 14 billion euros.
82-year-old Nicolas Puech, who lives in Switzerland, accuses his former asset manager Eric Freymond, who died in July, of robbing him of his shares. This was done in favor of his big rival, the 76-year-old billionaire Bernard Arnault and LVMH. The great-grandson of the founder of the Paris fashion house on Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré estimates his losses at 14.3 billion euros. He filed his lawsuit on May 15, 2025, a judicial source confirmed to the AFP news agency, corroborating a report by the newspaper Libération.
It is a civil case, but Puech had already initiated criminal proceedings against Freymond in 2024. Before his death, he was placed under observation by Paris examining magistrates. The investigation “is ongoing,” the Paris prosecutor’s office told AFP. When asked by AFP, neither LVMH nor Puech’s lawyers wanted to comment.
Financial agreements
Puech, who is often described as being at odds with the rest of his family, believes his former money manager conned him out of six million shares through financial arrangements.
These shares, which he inherited from the company his great-grandfather founded, represent almost 5.76 percent of the capital. At the current rate, this corresponds to around 14.3 billion euros.
According to the newspaper Le Canard Enchaîné, Freymond confessed to French judges last summer shortly before his suicide that he had sold 4.8 million of these shares to LVMH in 2008. There had already been several smaller sales.
The fate of the shares inherited from Puech remains shrouded in mystery. “I have long been convinced that Nicolas Puech no longer owns his shares,” said Axel Dumas, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Hermès, at the end of July when asked about the former asset manager’s disappearance.
Stock market coup
This could be related to the historic rivalry between the luxury empire LVMH, owner of the Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior brands, and Hermès. Hermès is a family-run saddlery and leather goods maker that has grown into a luxury giant, famous for its Kelly and Birkin bags and its silk scarves.
In the early 2010s, LVMH unexpectedly acquired a stake in Hermès, surprising the market and the stock exchange regulator by failing to report the achievement of several regulatory thresholds as required. The offensive prompted family members to band together in a holding company to counter Bernard Arnault’s ambitions.
At the end of one of the most memorable sagas on the Paris Stock Exchange, the case was closed: LVMH was ordered to pay a fine of eight million euros. This was a record amount at the time, but small given the luxury goods giant’s financial strength.
A year after the sanction and after a four-year power struggle between the two giants, LVMH announced its withdrawal from Hermès’ capital, making a capital gain of 2.4 billion euros. One of the unresolved questions is whether Puech’s shares were sold when Bernard Arnault, the head of LVMH, discreetly built up his stake in the competitor.
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