Serge Dassault
Serge Dassault ( born April 4, 1925 in Paris ) is a French multi- billionaire arms industrialist, politician and newspaper owner. The son of aircraft designer and founder Marcel Bloch was consolidated from 2004 onwards as the new ruler of the French press.
Dassault and his family to rule over a diversified empire of combat drones, fighter aircraft, commercial aircraft, software development, media and real estate. For Groupe Dassault belongs to the aerospace and defense company Dassault Aviation, known primarily for its fighter jets fighter Rafale, Mirage and Falcon business jets. Dassault Systèmes is a software development company for product lifecycle management solutions. The press - holding Socpresse done with nearly 9,000 employees and an estimated 70 publications a large part of the public relations work of the Group. In addition, the Dassault family holdings include 6.3% stake in Veolia Environnement.
Life
In 1987 Serge Dassault went to his father's legacy and was General Manager of Dassault Industries. The teilnationalisierte under the presidency of François Mitterrand in the 1980s Aviation Group was privatized by his successor Jacques Chirac again and is now at 50.55 % in the hands of the Dassault family and 46.32 % in those of the second French aerospace group EADS France. The state has only 3.13% of the shares. Serge Dassault was client of the law firm of Nicolas Sarkozy, which regulated the estate of his father.
In addition to other political offices, he was from 1995 to 2009 mayor of Corbeil -Essonnes. In this Paris suburb at which the banlieue development Les Tarterêts heard, in 2006, again to riots and violent clashes with the special forces BAC and CRS. Jean -Pierre Bechtel - protégé and at that time closest collaborator Dassault - 2010 was his successor in the office of the mayor.
When he wanted to move in as a member of the conservative UMP in the Senate in 2004, the French Constitutional Court ( Constitutional Council ) had to decide, because politicians, trade unionists, lawyers and journalists feared a political and media power concentration as in Italy under Silvio Berlusconi.
Media and NGO
As of 2004, Dassault owner of " Figaro " group with the magazines " L' Express" and numerous regional newspapers and for employers of journalists was 2700, took 270 journalists - including 54 journalists in " Figaro ", the conservative main medium of France, with Christine Clerc - the conscience clause in and left the company despite the difficult labor market situation. He owns four-fifths of the shares in Socpresse publisher in Paris and pushed the group Lagardère Media's as a leader. As a new media mogul of France he had the final say over 70 newspaper titles such as the flagship conservative Le Figaro and Le Progres as flourishing newspapers (Lyon ) and La Voix du Nord (Lille ), but also Le Soir in Belgium. There are also television and women's magazines.
Serge Dassault is one of the financiers of Reporters Without Borders.
Vote buying, corruption, money laundering and embezzlement
1998 Dassault was convicted in Belgium under the Agusta - Dassault scandal to two years in prison on probation. Dassault and the Italian defense contractor Agusta had - in order to get orders for helicopter gunships and airborne equipment - more than 160 million francs paid ( 24 million euros ) to the then ruling Socialist Party in Brussels.
When he was re-elected with a very narrow margin for mayor of Corbeil -Essonnes 2008 saw the French Supreme Administrative Court a vote-buying as proven and canceled the election. Dassault spent a year without stand for election but could remain in the Senate. The investigative satirical magazine Le Canard enchaîné reported in December 2012 of approximately 1.7 million euros, which should have gone to middlemen Dassault over Lebanon, which then organized the vote-buying in Corbeil -Essonnes. Witnesses said Dassault have electorate vote per paid amounts between 20 and 400 Euro - Peanuts for the more computing in millions of Dassault.
Twice Dassault was already a lifting of his parliamentary immunity escaped in the Senate, even though coroner had made such a request. As on January 8, 2013 ( with one abstention ) refused the presidency of the Senate to request a waiver of the parliamentary immunity of Dassault with 13 votes to 12, and thus the co-investigating judges, who determined on suspicion of vote buying, corruption, money laundering and embezzlement, were blocked provoked the vote, especially in the left bearing indignation. Les Verts (The Greens) spoke of a scandal that the decision was "incomprehensible and shocking". Thierry Mandon, the ruling Socialist Party said that no one should be above the law, parliamentary immunity must have its limits.
On February 12, 2014 finally agreed, according to the President of the Senate Jean -Pierre Bel, the 14 senators of the left bearing for the lifting of immunity Dassault. The investigating judge may interrogate him and order searches. Dassault threatened a process. In a display him the formation of a criminal organization accused. Investigators are also looking at two assassination attempts, Rachid Toumi was shot on January 29, 2013, and on the ex-boxer Fatah Hou an assassination attempt was three weeks later perpetrated. Background could have been a dispute over the distribution of Dassault funds.
Forbes magazine estimated Dassault's assets in 2010 to 7.6 billion U.S. dollars. He was the third most active politicians in the world.
2014 Dassault stood on the billionaire list by " Bloomberg " with a fortune of $ 14.1 billion in fourth place in France, world ranked 70th