Louis Dreyfus Group
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| Type | Société par actions simplifiée |
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| Industry | Conglomerate |
| Founded | 1851 |
| Founder(s) | Leopold Louis-Dreyfus |
| Headquarters | Paris, France |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Key people | Serge Schoen, CEO |
| Products | Energy trading, Raw materials, renewable and biomass energy, commodities |
| Revenue | US$ 46 billion (2010) |
| Employees | 34,000 (2011) |
| Website | www.louisdreyfus.com |
Louis Dreyfus Group is a French global conglomerate company that is involved in agriculture, oil, energy and commodities (global processing, trading and merchandising), as well as international shipping. It also owns and manages ocean vessels, develops and operates telecommunications infrastructures and is involved in real estate (development, management and ownership).
The company Louis Dreyfus Holding BV has its headquarters in the World Trade Center Amsterdam in Amsterdam.[1]
Louis Dreyfus companies are present in more than 53 countries, with 72 offices. Major offices are located in Geneva, Beijing, Buenos Aires, Paris, São Paulo, New York and Connecticut.
Aggregate average annual gross sales in recent years have exceeded $120 billion. The company employs 35,000.
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History [edit]
The company was founded in 1851, in Alsace, by Leopold Louis-Dreyfus, who developed a fortune while still teenager, through cross-border cereal trading. He rapidly diversified across shipping, weapons manufacturing, agriculture, oil and banking, thus establishing one of the wealthiest dynasties in Europe.[2] His descendents still own the company to this day. By the early 20th century, the Louis-Dreyfus family were described as one of the "five great fortunes of France".[3] However, as a Jewish family, during the Second World War, many of their assets were confiscated by the Vichy government and some members of the family fled to America.[4]
Leopold Louis-Dreyfus's great-grandson, Gérard Louis-Dreyfus was chairman of Louis Dreyfus Energy Services, a subsidiary of the group involved in crude-oil trading, gas investments and infrastructure. Gérard is also the father of American actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Another branch of the dynasty, based in Paris, was headed, until his death in 2009, by Robert Louis-Dreyfus (who was also the CEO of Adidas). It is currently overseen by Margarita Louis-Dreyfus. A third-branch of the family is headed by Philippe Louis-Dreyfus (born 1945), concerned primarily with offshore industrial activities, and freight-shipping operations.
See also [edit]
- Gérard Louis-Dreyfus (1932-)
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus (1961-)
- Pierre Louis-Dreyfus (1908-2011)
- Robert Louis-Dreyfus (1946-2009)
- Margarita Louis-Dreyfus, heir to Robert Louis-Dreyfus and current supervisor, considered to be the richest Russian woman in the world.[5]
- LD Lines
External links [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ "Contacts." Louis Dreyfus Group. Retrieved on October 30, 2012. "WTC Amsterdam Tower H - Level 25 Zuidplein 208 1077 XV Amsterdam The Netherlands"
- ^ Saatchi & Saatchi: The Inside Story, By Alison Fendley, page 100, Arcade Publishing, 8 Oct 1996
- ^ Buried By The Times: The Holocaust And America's Most Important Newspaper, Laurel Leff, Cambridge University Press, Mar 2005, page 81
- ^ The History of Foreign Investment in the United States, 1914-1945, Harvard University Press, 2004, By Mira Wilkins, page 479
- ^ Маргарита Луи-Дрейфус, хозяйка Марселя, Pervyy kanal, March 5, 2012
