Lagardere, Jean-Luc

▪ 2004

      French entrepreneur (b. Feb. 10, 1928, Aubiet, France—d. March 14, 2003, Paris, France), created one of France's largest industrial empires and was instrumental in the creation of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS), the trans-European aerospace behemoth and manufacturer of the Airbus aircraft. Lagardère trained as an engineer and began his career in 1951, working for Avions Marcel Dassault. In 1963 he became managing director of the armaments manufacturer Matra, which he diversified into the manufacture of equipment for space exploration and automobiles, and in 1977 he became CEO. In 1980 Lagardère acquired the publishing company Hachette, which he built into one of the world's biggest magazine publishers, with such titles as Paris Match, Elle, Woman's Day, and Car and Driver. He purchased the television channel La Cinq in 1990, but it went bankrupt two years later. He salvaged the situation by merging Hachette and Matra in 1993; this became the Lagardère Group. In 1998 he merged Matra with the state-owned Aerospatiale, and he then brought it together with Germany's DaimlerChrysler and Spain's Casa to form EADS. In 2001 Lagardère handed day-to-day responsibility for the Lagardère Group to his son, but he remained chairman.

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