Just cuz I’m rich don’t mean you rich. …tricky inheritance stories.

[DOS_patos]

A Canadian lawyer in the 1920s left a significant portion of his healthy estate to a trust that would be liquidated 10 years after his death and given to a Toronto woman who managed to birth the most children between 1926 to 1936—four mothers ultimately benefited from the scheme dubbed the "Great Stork Derby," and each received $110,000 (the equivalent of about $2.4 million today).

 

[DOS_patos]

In 2007, man of noble Portuguese lineage named Luis Carlos de Noronha Cabral de Camara reportedly left his bank accounts, 12-room apartment in Lisbon, house in Portugal, luxury car and two motorcycles to a group of 70 people whose names he randomly plucked from a phone book more than a decade ahead of his death.

 

[DOS_patos]

known as the "Dogeville Hermit,” a Wisconsin man named Archibald McArthur left just $5 each to his family members when he died in the early 1900s and left the rest of his money (about $3 million today) to a man he once befriended on a park bench.

 

[DOS_patos]

One of the wealthiest men in Michigan did pa$s on his estate to his family, but not until a century after he died—Wellington Burt included a provision in the will for his $110 million fortune that didn't allow it to pa$s on until 21 years after the death of his last surviving grandchild, and 12 people inherited the money in 2010.

 

[DOS_patos]

Earlier this year, a secret multimillionaire in New Hampshire decided to leave all of his wealth — $3.8 million — to the town he'd lived in for decades.

 

[DOS_patos]

Hermes billionaire wants to bequeath fortune to his gardener​

A descendant of Europe’s richest family has reportedly begun a process to adopt his middle-aged gardener, planning to leave him at least half of his roughly €12 billion ($13 billion) fortune.

Nicolas Puech, 80, a fifth-generation descendant of the founder of French luxury goods company Hermes, wants to cancel a contract that would bequeath his fortune to the Isocrates Foundation, which he founded, and instead make his employee a legal heir.

Swiss newspapers Tribune de Geneve and 24 heures reported the news earlier this month.


The charitable foundation is contesting Puech’s plan to cut ties, which it says it learned of only recently. “From a legal point of view, a unilateral cancellation of the contract of inheritance seems void and unfounded,” the organization said in a statement shared with CNN. “The foundation has therefore opposed the cancellation of the contract, while leaving the door open for discussions with its founder.”

Referring to the Swiss media reports on Puech’s “wish to adopt his employee,” the charity said it wasn’t in a position “to judge or comment (on) this initiative,” adding that it “leaves it to the relevant authorities to decide on this matter.” CNN has contacted the billionaire’s lawyer for comment.

Established by Puech in 2011 and funded by him since, the Isocrates Foundation supports public interest journalism and civil society organizations working toward a “healthy digital public space,” according to its website.

The inheritance contract between the foundation and Puech, who isn’t known to have children, reportedly provides for his shares in Hermes to be left to the foundation. That is, unless he becomes a father, in which case his child would be entitled to a part of the inheritance, and at least 50% in the case of a son.

Puech purportedly owns 5.7% of Hermes, a company known for its silk scarves and leather handbags. A post-pandemic boom in demand for luxury goods has propelled Hermes to a valuation of nearly €211 billion ($230.8 billion), making Puech’s stake worth around €12 billion.

Hermes stopped breaking out Puech’s stake in 2016 but listed him as holding a 5.8% stake in its 2015 annual report. The latest report lists “other members of the Hermes family group” as holding a 5.7% share in the firm.

The Hermes family is the world’s third wealthiest, according to an annual Bloomberg ranking published earlier this month.