Who is Rodolphe Saadé, this French businessman who made 30 billion euros in one year? | Francelive
The containers, those big metal boxes that are transported by the hundreds on giant ships, are less beautiful than haute couture handbags, they smell less nice than the perfumes of the big luxury houses, but since then they sometimes bring in more money. This is according to the latest ranking of French fortunes compiled by Challenge magazine.
While the usual industry leaders (Bernard Arnault, Françoise Bettencourt-Meyers) saw their fortunes plummet in 2022 due to the decline in their company’s stock market value, one man saw his wealth soar spectacularly. This rose within a year from 6 to 36 billion euros. His name: Rodolphe Saade.
record profits
Unknown to the general public, he is CEO of the Marseille shipping company CMA CGM. The company specializes in sea transport, port handling and land logistics. It asserts itself as the world market leader in container transport. This activity has become largely profitable since the health crisis.
According to calculations by the United Nations Trade Conference, the average price for a container from China to Europe has risen from $1,000 to $4,500. Enough to give the French company the best exercise in its history. In 2021 it made a profit of 16.4 billion euros. This year it should be even better: In the first quarter it has already accumulated a profit of 6.7 billion euros.
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Activity is so brisk that CMA CGM can afford to lower its prices. At the end of June, the company announced in a press release that it would reduce its prices by 10 to 20% in mainland France and overseas territories. “to support the purchasing power of French households”. This corresponds to a saving of 500 euros per container.
From water fountains to containers
As stated in the biography on the CMA CGM website, Rodolphe Saadé was born in Lebanon in 1970. He studied in Montreal (Canada), where he earned a degree in Commerce and Marketing. Early in his career he started a water fountain company.
He then joined the family business founded by his father, Jacques Saadé. In it he multiplied the functions. In particular, he managed various transport lines in Hong Kong and New York. After joining the company’s headquarters in Marseille, he will be promoted to CEO in November 2017.
Under fire from critics
Accustomed to lower places in the French fortune rankings, Rodolphe Saadé has just made a dazzling leap. Enough to take him from relative anonymity to notoriety and the criticism that comes with it.
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On July 7th, Fabien Roussel, communist MP and former presidential candidate, targeted him during his interview on Franceinfo: “His personal fortune has grown from 6 billion euros to 36 billion euros. There is no one who has had such an increase in one year. On whose back? Small French companies that went through him to bring equipment from abroad and on the back of us, the consumers.
Tackles that Rodolphe Saadé will undoubtedly have to get used to, in other words: fighting bad luck with a good heart…
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