The Case of the Missing $15 Billion Fortune: Part 2

What It Covers

Wall Street Journal investigation reveals how financial advisor Eric Fremont allegedly stole Nicolas Puech's $15 billion Hermes fortune over decades, selling shares to LVMH and making questionable investments before dying by apparent suicide.

Key Questions Answered

• •Trust exploitation pattern: Fremont gained total control by handling all mail, phone calls, checks, and financial decisions for Puech, creating complete dependency that enabled undetected fraud for over a decade before discovery.
• •Detection through casual conversation: The fraud unraveled when Puech's handyman's wife overheard Fremont lying about transferring one million Swiss francs, prompting a full financial audit that revealed 90 percent of shares were sold during LVMH's raid.
• •Asset liquidation timeline: Between 2008-2021, Fremont systematically sold all Hermes shares in chunks, investing proceeds in Czech film companies, West African hydrogen projects, and Moderna stock with unclear beneficiaries and no coherent investment strategy.
• •Deathbed defense strategy: Two weeks before suicide, Fremont testified to French investigators claiming he and Puech were lovers and all money transfers were gifts, contradicting years of denials about selling shares to LVMH.