The 33-year-old man shot multiple times in the legs and groin in an attempted robbery of his six-figure Richard Mille watch is a French-born cryptocurrency expert who flaunted his timepieces on social media.
Pierrick Jamaux told police a man demanded his watch as soon as he and his companions got out of an Uber at their midtown hotel Friday morning, and then shot him before he could react, according to law enforcement sources.
Jamaux, who was with his model wife, Sarah Watts, 26, and another woman, was returning to the Fifty Hotel and Suites at 155 East 50th St. from the Sapphire 39 strip club on West 39th Street.
As Jamaux fell to the ground from the gunshot wounds, his attacker bent over him trying to take something, sources said.
Then Jamaux’s companion, a 25-year-old woman, jumped on the gunman’s back before he shrugged her off and fled, sources said.
Jamaux was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he had multiple entry and exit wounds to both legs, according to sources.
Five shell casings were recovered from the scene.
Watts was seen leaving Bellevue Hospital Saturday afternoon but declined to comment on her husband.
Jamaux, a French native now living in Hong Kong, is a founder of an online banking platform called Hi, which says it is a “next-gen crypto exchange and mobile banking app, for savings, investments and payments.”
His company bio says he is a “lifestyle guru.”
Jamaux’ Instagram account shows him and his wife, a model from Australia, out on the town in Hong Kong and Paris, enjoying caviar and champagne.
In one photo from December, Jamaux has his arm around his wife at a Hong Kong restaurant with what looks to be a Richard Mille watch on his wrist.
Some of the company’s watches are made in limited editions or of unique materials including one with an alloy developed by NASA to be used on supersonic aircraft wings, according to one report. Some models are priced at more than $1 million.
The company’s website lists singer Pharrell Williams, golfer Bubba Watson and actor John Malkovich as “friends and partners.”
The suspect who shot Jamaux remained at large Saturday. Sources said that he could be seen in surveillance video going into a vestibule and then re-emerging a few seconds later in light colored clothing. He walked north on Lexington and dropped a dark bundle into a trash can.
Another person could be seen picking up the bundle several minutes later, sources said.
Additional reporting by Griffin Kelly