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Robert Louis-DreyfusFrench businessman
Date of Birth: 14.06.1946
Country:  Switzerland |
Content:
Biography of Robert Louis-Dreyfus
Robert Louis-Dreyfus was a French businessman and executive director of Adidas-Salomon and Saatchi & Saatchi. He was the main shareholder of the French football club Olympique de Marseille and under his leadership, the club regained its status as one of the top European clubs.
Early Life and Education
Robert Louis-Dreyfus was born on June 14, 1946, in Paris, France. He was the great-grandson of Leopold Dreyfus, the founder of Louis-Dreyfus Group, a company that started trading wheat in Alsace 100 years earlier and expanded to include oil, raw materials, and transportation.
Although not an exceptional student, Louis-Dreyfus excelled in poker and won significant amounts of money from his friends while attending Lycée Janson-de-Sailly in Paris. In 1967, he spent time in an Israeli kibbutz and even participated in the Six-Day War. He later gained admission to Harvard Business School, thanks to his experiences during the war.
Career
Louis-Dreyfus began his career in the family business, Louis-Dreyfus Group, under the guidance of Siegmund Warburg, an English banker of German origin with experience in British intelligence. In 1982, he joined IMS, an American pharmaceutical research company, and his initial investment of $400,000 grew 20-fold when the company was sold in 1988.
He served as the CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi, a British advertising agency, from 1989 to 1993. Louis-Dreyfus invested his own money in Saatchi & Saatchi, and under his leadership, the agency experienced significant growth.
In 1994, Louis-Dreyfus became the CEO of Adidas-Salomon, a German sportswear company. He optimized the company's product line and added new brands, such as Salomon skiwear and golf accessories. He held the position until 2001.
Louis-Dreyfus also held the position of chairman of Neuf Telecom, a French telecommunications company, until 2004. He was also a director of Neuf Cegetel.
In May 2000, Louis-Dreyfus returned to the family business, Louis-Dreyfus Group. He became the largest shareholder of Olympique de Marseille, a renowned French football club, in 1996. Under his sponsorship, the club attracted Adidas and Neuf Telecom as sponsors and invested heavily in rebuilding the team, targeting the immigrant population of Marseille. Although the club did not achieve significant trophy success during his tenure, they reached the finals of the UEFA Cup and the Coupe de France twice.
Louis-Dreyfus was also a shareholder of the Belgian football club Standard Liege and played a role in the creation of Infront Sports & Media, where he served as the chairman of the board.
Personal Life and Legacy
Robert Louis-Dreyfus passed away on July 4, 2009, in Zurich, Switzerland, after a long battle with leukemia. He was 63 years old. He is survived by his wife Margarita Louis-Dreyfus and three sons. Margarita, often referred to as one of the richest Russian women in Europe, met Robert in 1989 during a flight from Zurich to London. They got married on May 15, 1992, and have three sons together.
After her husband's death, Margarita took on the responsibilities of managing the family business and the football club, at least until their children reached the appropriate age.
