Different$币安人生 Can you imagine?
A person who once possessed 15 billion dollars discovered at the age of 80 that he only had 600,000 left in his account.
And this person is not a failure in entrepreneurship, nor is he a victim of investment disasters; he is the heir of the Hermès family.
The Hermès brand has existed for nearly two hundred years, with the family's wealth passed down from generation to generation. In this generation, the person who owns the most Hermès stock is named Nicolas Puech, the fifth-generation heir, whose peak net worth reached 15 billion dollars.
His life seems to have almost no worries. There is no economic pressure, and he does not need to worry about the future. He has never been married and has no children, so he planned early on to establish a foundation to donate all his wealth to charity and cultural causes after his death.
This seemingly perfect conclusion has turned upside down in the past two years.
Not out of greed, but because he realized he had run out of money.
He accused that all his assets had been depleted by the financial advisor he had trusted for twenty-five years. This person is named Eric Freymond, who is quite well-known in the European wealthy circles, and the two had a close personal relationship.
For the past twenty-five years, Nicolas had entrusted Eric with nearly every aspect of his life. Bills, emails, real estate, stock investments—without exception. He had never suspected that his assets were being transferred bit by bit.
Until what seemed like a trivial matter brought the entire truth to light.
Nicolas wanted to gift his personal assistant one million dollars. For him, it was just a trivial sum. The financial advisor also told him that the transaction had been completed.
But during a chat, the assistant's wife accidentally overheard the matter and realized that the money had never been credited. Upon investigation, the parties involved were shocked to find that something was amiss.
Further investigations revealed shocking results. The originally 15 billion dollar assets had actually dwindled to about 600,000 dollars. A large amount of wealth had been transferred and bound within structures he could not access, and even the house he lived in was not under his name.
More crucially, one of his most important assets, about 6% of Hermès stock, had already been quietly sold.
The buyer was exactly the opponent that Hermès had long been most reluctant to see, one of the largest luxury goods groups in the world, LVMH, which owns brands like LV and Celine.
For many years, LVMH has been acquiring Hermès stocks through various means, ultimately holding about 17%, becoming one of the major shareholders. To achieve this, shares could only be obtained from the family heir.
Nicolas had always thought his stocks were still there, but in reality, they had long been sold to a competitor.
He reported the case and filed a lawsuit, accusing the financial advisor of embezzling his assets. However, Eric completely denied it and even made shocking claims. He asserted that he and Nicolas were in a romantic relationship, and that all those assets were gifts willingly given by the other.
Meanwhile, Eric's life was extremely lavish, collecting famous paintings and enjoying a top-tier lifestyle, forming a stark contrast with Nicolas's situation.
This controversy ultimately ended in tragedy. In July this year, Eric died by lying on the tracks, further obscuring the whereabouts of the 15 billion dollars. Some believe he couldn't bear the pressure of the lawsuit, while others think the truth may never be fully uncovered.
And Nicolas is already over eighty years old.
From being a wealthy individual who once flew on private jets, to now needing to rely on budget airlines and assistance from relatives to get by. He is still trying through legal means to recover everything he has lost, but progress is currently limited.
Many mocked his naivety, but to be honest, I actually felt more sympathy for him. He appeared to be a generous person who easily trusted others, yet he paid an extremely heavy price for it in his later years.
Perhaps now is the moment for us mere mortals to be closest to the heir of Hermès, casually buying a little $BTC might surpass his assets.
Because no matter how much wealth you have, once you hand over complete control of your life, what you lose may be more than just money, but an entire life.
Different $币安人生 update Day 1
