The family behind Hermès International SCA, the richest in Europe, has accumulated so much wealth that even a distant blood relative can make his children millionaires with a few donations of the luxury giant’s stock.
Wilfried Guerrand, 53,who oversees metiers, information systems and data on the company’s executive committee, this year donated 450 shares to each of his four children — Sixtine, 25; Stanislas, 20; Mathias, 19; and Albane, 18 — according to French securities exchange filings from August and May.
The stock is worth around €3.9 million ($4.3 million) in total after gains of about 12% this year and a doubling since June 2022. The maker of Birkin and Kelly handbags and silk scarves is successfully weathering the industry downturn, unlike some of its peers.
While Guerrand is a distant relative of one branch of the Hermès family, he isn’t a direct descendant of the founder, said a spokeswoman, who declined to comment on the donation. He joined Hermès International nearly three decades ago and at the end of last year had 10,147 shares, according to company documents.
Descendants of harness maker Thierry Hermès, who started a workshop in 1837, form the Dumas, Guerrand and Puech branches of the family. The direct heirs number more than 100 and have a net worth of $170.1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
They include sixth-generation scions Axel Dumas, who is executive chairman, and Eric de Seynes, chairman of the supervisory board. The clan strengthened its control over the firm after LVMH founder and rival Bernard Arnault revealed in 2010 that he had accumulated a sizable stake.
Nicolas Puech, a fifth-generation heir living in Switzerland, was estranged during the battle with Arnault and has been embroiled in a court case and legal investigations over whether he still owns some 6 million Hermès shares.