Serge Dassault, French billionaire entrepreneur, dies at 93

[Heathrow Harry]

French entrepreneur and politician Serge Dassault has died at the age of 93, his family has said.Mr Dassault led the Dassault group after his father, Marcel's, death in 1986. The group has numerous firms in aeronautics and armaments and owns the French newspaper, Le Figaro.Mr Dassault was one of France's richest men and ranked high on the billionaires list of both Bloomberg (https://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/)and Forbes (https://www.forbes.com/profile/serge-dassault/).

They put his worth at about $26bn-$27bn (£19.5bn-£20bn).Mr Dassault was also involved in politics and had served as a conservative senator and a mayor of Corbeil-Essonne, a southern suburb of Paris.Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy paid tribute to Mr Dassault, saying: "France has lost a great industrialist, and I a friend."French news channel BFMTV reported that Mr Dassault died after he had a heart attack at the headquarters of the Dassault Aviation group on Monday.The Dassault Group holds a majority stake in Dassault Aviation, the manufacturer of the Mirage and Rafale fighter jets.Last year, he was found guilty of fraud by a Paris court after failing to disclose the full extent of his wealth to the tax authorities and fined €2m (£1.75m; $2.3m).

[BluSdUp]

I just read Wiki about Marcel Dassault ( Block ), his son Serge and Dassault Aviation. What a great story , and what great Aircraft.
I would love to pilot a Falcon.
Was a bit touch and go for their survival during WWII, and the old man was not given long by the doctors after Buchenwald.
To live to 93 and see what he has seen , and do what he has done is quite something.
A great service to his country and Allies.
Respectfully
Cpt B

[Capn Bloggs]

Flying a Dassault machine = "Ride a French lady". :ok::ok:

It is looks good, it'll fly well. The best lookers in the skies.

[Heathrow Harry]

The "Times" obit referred to the occasion he went pheasant shooting on his estate with cross -country vehicle modified to have a 4 x MG gun turret to improve his "catch"

Euro 1000 fine............................

[BluSdUp]

Ahh But Merde,
He had a plan all along: When his dad changed the Family name from Block he picked a random french name that no-one else had!
He call them Tank or more literally: Assault Wagon. Dassault!
I suppose that gave young Serge an idea for later use,,,
4x4 with Ak Ak for hunting , brilliant.

The difference between us and brilliant chaps like him is that we leave the Pub and go home and sleep it of.
He , I imagine gets a fresh bottle and head for the shed and makes it happen!!

[Kerosene Kraut]

Marcel Bloch please. Famous under this name as well.

[etudiant]

Marcel Bloch was a true aviation pioneer. His firm led French aviation before WW2 and he restored that leadership afterward. His aircraft were world class, even though his resources were never more than a fraction of those available to his competitors.
Serge was much more multi faceted; apart from his aviation interests, he was a very successful real estate investor and also a leader in digital data systems through Dassault Systemes, as well as a parliamentary representative. Serge was very conscious of his responsibilities to his firm and his work force. so he was always financially conservative. The continuing existence of Dassault is a tribute to his obstinate determination to keep his firm independent.

[Heathrow Harry]

Marcel Bloch was a true aviation pioneer. His firm led French aviation before WW2 and he restored that leadership afterward. His aircraft were world class, even though his resources were never more than a fraction of those available to his competitors.
Serge was much more multi faceted; apart from his aviation interests, he was a very successful real estate investor and also a leader in digital data systems through Dassault Systemes, as well as a parliamentary representative. Serge was very conscious of his responsibilities to his firm and his work force. so he was always financially conservative. The continuing existence of Dassault is a tribute to his obstinate determination to keep his firm independent.

And his ability to put the right amount into a series of brown envelopes of course.......................

multifaceted or multi faced?

[GotTheTshirt]

Harry, brown envelopes are "the cost of doing business! like scanty clad ladies and new cars.
We Brits are just lucky that people like RR and BAE do not stoop to these dastardly practices!!
When in Rome comes to mind!!!

[Heathrow Harry]

Harry, brown envelopes are "the cost of doing business! like scanty clad ladies and new cars.
We Brits are just lucky that people like RR and BAE do not stoop to these dastardly practices!!
When in Rome comes to mind!!!

Regretfully both BAe and RR have been caught red handed - as have half the AIrbus management

It may be customary but it's also illegal and the feds are getting better at catching people

I also think the spread of electronic media means you can't get away with it as easily - everyone in the chain is certainly making "backups" of what crosses their screen so they and their lawyer can be first through the Feds door to plea bargain if necessary. And it's also insurance against the day that you fall out with your superiors....................

[pax britanica]

Bit sad that the thread has moved on to what our American Cousins (or are they our enemies these days) call foreign Corrupt Practices. Presumably to separate them from racketeering , and all the other domestic corrupt practices

I am sure Avions Marcel Dassault played the game the same as everyone else in industry does according to the host or customer country. It is extremely naive to think that UK and American companies do not do this .
The feds have no jurisdiction over say a France to (inset name of Middle East/Asian State here) The US is usually only interested when their player in the game lost , as in the free and fair competition that awarded the KC135/Extender replacements to Airbus only for it to transform itself into a 767.

Actually while Dassault products always look great, stylish and elegant and functional a many French engineering feats have actually looked whether ugly, weird or just plain different but do the job very well.

[BluSdUp]

Please do not take this the wrong way, but are You 19 and studying Moral Philosophy!
We are talking a man that just died 93 from a family that was almost extinct by the Holocost, and then proceeded to become the most important industrialist in the French defense industry.
From 1945 and outwards, we were at a arms race continually with the USSR. We served our country as best we could. Dassault did it spectacularly efficiently with and without the governments help .
Who cares if someone forgot their lunchbag full of cash in the past.
He got the job done.

[olster]

Well said Blu. It is a ludicrous attempt @ moral equivalence to compare a survivor of the most atrocious regime of modern history to slightly sharp business practice probably applicable to every global corporation. RIP, Serge.

[Heathrow Harry]

Please do not take this the wrong way, but are You 19 and studying Moral Philosophy!
We are talking a man that just died 93 from a family that was almost extinct by the Holocost, and then proceeded to become the most important industrialist in the French defense industry.
From 1945 and outwards, we were at a arms race continually with the USSR. We served our country as best we could. Dassault did it spectacularly efficiently with and without the governments help .
Who cares if someone forgot their lunchbag full of cash in the past.

He got the job done.

Surviving the Holocaust doesn't give anyone a free ticket to commit illegal acts

And M Serge's "getting the job done" in his own inimitable way meant that other workers and manufacturers , both in France and elsewhere, who played by the rules were disadvantaged - and the idea that Dassault prospered without French Govt help actually made me laugh out loud........................

[badgerh]

Great guy and great company - I deal often with Dassault Systemes and am always impressed with their entrepreneurship, looking after their people and general coolness.

Oh, another little Gallic note: Chateau Dassault is one of very few grands crus to change its name. The family also holds minority shares in some serous wines such as Cheval Blanc and L'Evangile (Yummee!!!)

[Turbine D]

Harry,
And M Serge's "getting the job done" in his own inimitable way meant that other workers and manufacturers , both in France and elsewhere, who played by the rules were disadvantaged - and the idea that Dassault prospered without French Govt help actually made me laugh out loud........................
Lets not forget it isn't only brown bags being passed to get the job done in industry, it's government brown bags as well, one government being that of Edward Heath's. Heath saved the RB-211 program from oblivion when the development costs doubled, the identified engine sell price was less than the projected production manufacturing costs, the engine was overweight and didn't provide the advertised power or fuel efficiency and the Hyfil fan blades failed the certification testing all leading to Rolls filing for bankruptcy. Rolls was saved by the government's huge brown bag.

[GotTheTshirt]

Turbine, slight side track but the Roger Bacon ( Flight Mag) quote at that time went
Minister : How it the new engine performing ?
RR Man, Well sir, the weight is what the thrust should be and the thrust is what the weight should be !!

Harry, didn't the King of Belgium get a new Coronet for the Starfighters to the Air Force ?
Your choice of "illegal" is a defintion by whom? Certain not by most Middle East countries !

[bobward]

Hmm, what started out as a tribute to an aviation great has now descended into 'who bribed who'. Ladies and gentlemen, that is rather sad.....

[Groundloop]

Actually while Dassault products always look great, stylish and elegant

You must be forgetting about the Mercure!