Inside the legal spat between billionaire Jan Koum and interior designer Remi Tessier

Remi Tessier, one of the world’s most expensive and sought-after interior designers — his clients have included billionaires Larry Ellison and Ken Griffin — is embroiled in some major interior design drama with WhatsApp founder Jan Koum. 

Tessier helped Koum design five homes — including a $100-million Atherton compound and a $100-million Malibu mansion — and two 100-meter yachts valued at more than $700 million in total.

In court documents filed in the Southern District of New York, Koum claims Tessier “brazenly exploited him” by inflating prices and misrepresenting the goods he procured in a “pattern of predation.”

“Rich people love to complain about how expensive everything is,” one billionaire told me of the case.

According to the filing, Koum bought a $7.8 million Picasso, upon Tessier’s recommendation. The designer allegedly took a backdoor $600,000 payment from the gallery without disclosing it to Koum. Koum alleges that he discovered another art commission kickback had been sent to an offshore account in the British Virgin Islands.

Koum, 49, said he is planning to file a complaint in France that will trigger a criminal investigation, and is seeking discovery from Tessier for use in that anticipated proceeding. The filing also alleges that at least two other former clients (who remain anonymous) have fired the venerated designer for the same reason.

”This has never been about personal gain — Jan has pledged to donate any recovery to charity in France — but about protecting others,” Koum’s attorney, Orin Snyder at Gibson Dunn, told me. Koum is worth more than $17 billion according to Forbes. He sold WhatsApp to Facebook in 2014 for $19 billion.

In response to the accusations, Tessier, 61, told me, “I deny all allegations against me. I have always treated [Koum] with the highest respect and safeguarded his privacy. I am shocked that he has done this.”

In the application for discovery, Koum claims that Tessier would frequently misrepresent the value of goods and their provenance  — like claiming a lamp from RH (the brand previously known as Restoration Hardware) was custom. 

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In one example, Tessier allegedly told Koum he purchased “two dozen hand-knotted silk and pashmina carpets … from a high-end French carpet manufacturer” — and even provided Tessier with the invoice (which he stated was €642,032, roughly $75,000). 

According to the court filings, the rugs were from a completely different supplier and were made of synthetic fibers and were “hand-loomed” rather than “hand-knotted.” Experts cited on the suit concluded the actual value of the rugs was less than half what Tessier said they cost. 

The filing alleges that the design did this sort of thing with everything from steak knives to couches. This practice “allowed Tessier to pocket the difference while leaving Koum with products far below the standard he believed he was paying for.”

Tessier would allegedly convert the price of something from dollars to euros to pocket the price discrepancies between the two currencies and would secretly take kickback payments from vendors without Koum knowing. 

Koum’s attorneys have indicated they plan to take legal action against Tessier in France for this alleged fraud.

Those close to Tessier say they’re skeptical he would have intentionally misled someone he’d known for years like Koum. They say this is a misunderstanding that has been further complicated by the language barrier with Tessier’s French attorneys.

Tessier is well known in the world of the .01% as perhaps the most expensive interior designer around.

“If you pick a guy like this, buckle up,” my billionaire source told me.