Your account has been succesfully created.

EN FR

France, Switzerland
Former Hermès wealth manager Freymond and French ex-PM Villepin boost art market ties

By Philippe Vasset

Published on 30.01.2025 at 06:00 GMT Reading time 2 min

The exhibition of his daughter's paintings in Eric Freymond's Geneva gallery brought former prime minister Dominique de Villepin closer to the erstwhile wealth manager of the Hermès heir.

This article may be accessed by subscribers

In order to ensure high-quality and independent journalism, Glitz relies solely on subscriptions from its readers, with no advertising, no events and no consulting work.

Several offers are available depending on your particular reading needs

Consult our offers

Do you want a free trial before subscribing?

Create your free account

Discover our work by making use of the following possibilities: daily newsletters, a selection of free articles, keyword alerts.

Do you want a free trial before subscribing?

create a free account

This article is part of this Running Story

Hermès heirs at odds All articles

Family of Hermès heir's late wealth manager Éric Freymond close down store and gallery amid seizure threats

A few weeks after the brutal death of the wealth manager Éric Freymond, his family announced to friends that the Menus Plaisirs store in Gstaad was to close, along with the Espace Muraille gallery in Geneva.

Subscribers only France Families 02.09.2025

In Focus
The last confession of Eric Freymond, the shadow financier in the missing Hermès shares scandal

A few weeks before throwing himself onto the railway tracks near his chalet in Gstaad on the morning of 23 July, the Swiss asset manager Freymond agreed to meet with journalist Philippe Vasset, editor-in-chief of Glitz, for Revue XXI magazine.

Subscribers only France, Switzerland Families 31.07.2025

Implicated in the Hermès affair, the Swiss businessman Éric Freymond committed suicide on 23 July at the age of 67.

Spotlight
War over six million missing Hermès shares goes nuclear

Legal pressure is being piled in both France and Switzerland on wealth manager Eric Freymond, who is accused by his former client, the Hermès heir Nicolas Puech, of misappropriating six million Hermès shares from him.

Subscribers only France, Switzerland Families 03.04.2025

Éric Freymond and Nicolas Puech go head-to-head in a legal battle with numerous twists and turns.

Spotlight
The secret story of the 6 million Hermès shares that vanished into thin air, part 2

Published on 22/11/24 at 06:00 GMT - As we revealed in Part 1, the buying and selling of the 6 million Hermès shares deposited in Nicolas Puech's accounts remained secret for almost 12 years, before the owner realised they were missing.

Subscribers only France, Switzerland Families 22.11.2024

This week, Glitz.paris reveals the movements of the 6 million shares held by Hermès heir Nicolas Puech that mysteriously disappeared into a financial labyrinth.

Spotlight
The secret story of the 6 million Hermès shares that vanished into thin air

Glitz.paris has reconstructed the movements of the 6 million shares held by Hermès heir Nicolas Puech that mysteriously disappeared into a labyrinth of offshore accounts and Panama shell companies. The shares passed through the hands of Swiss asset managers, then LVMH finance directors, and are now beyond the reach of their owner, who is calling it the "heist of the century".

Subscribers only France, Switzerland Families 21.11.2024

Nicolas Puech weighs in on fresh proceedings against his former asset manager

Wealth manager Éric Freymond has been taken to court in Switzerland by the heirs of a second client, in addition to Hermès heir Nicolas Puech. Having failed to spur an investigation into Freymond for alleged mismanagement, Puech's lawyers are now hoping to benefit from that second set of proceedings to beef up their own.

Subscribers only France, Switzerland Families 12.09.2024

In search of Nicolas Puech's missing Hermès shares

Shortly before the legal battle erupted between Hermès heir Nicolas Puech and his wealth manager Éric Freymond over missing shares representing 5.7% of the luxury group's capital, Freymond claimed in another case that he himself was a major Hermès shareholder "through his clients".

Subscribers only France, Switzerland Families 29.08.2024

Spotlight
Hermès heir Nicolas Puech front and centre in Gstaad inheritance dispute

Already in the spotlight for unexpectedly rewriting his will, Hermès heir Nicolas Puech now finds himself embroiled in a heated inheritance dispute involving his former wealth manager, Éric Freymond, and a once-prominent Gstaad high society figure who died in 2021.

Subscribers only France, Switzerland Families 07.03.2024

The great Hermès mystery: where are Nicolas Puech's phantom shares housed?

Twelve years after the aborted LVMH raid on Hermès, and three years after the expiry of the non-aggression pact negotiated between the luxury giant and the Faubourg St Honoré based leather goods manufacturer, the status of the shares of one of the few members of the three shareholding families to have joined forces with LVMH, Nicolas Puech, remains shrouded in mystery.

Subscribers only France, Switzerland Families 13.10.2022

Headlines

Despite protests by the luxury giants, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has failed to take action against the counterfeit market on Canal Street.

Counterfeiters Luxury giants take on NYC mayor Mamdani over Canal Street fakes High society Pinaults storm summer social thanks to host Salma Hayek Estée Lauder Family power dynamics shift amid attempted Puig merger Courtin family Clarins owners reinvest dividends in and beyond luxury industry Luxury hotels McKillen continues to disrupt Maybourne's Paris project

France, Switzerland
Former Hermès wealth manager Freymond and French ex-PM Villepin boost art market ties