Michel Besnier (1928–2000) was a French heir and businessman. He served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Besnier Group, later known as

Lactalis Lactalis is a French multinational dairy products corporation, owned by the Besnier family and based in Laval, Mayenne, France. The company's former name was Besnier SA. Lactalis is the largest dairy products group in the world, and is the se ...

Early life

Michel Besnier was born on 18 September 1928 in

Laval, Mayenne Laval () is a town in western France, about west-southwest of Paris, and the capital of the Mayenne department. Its inhabitants are called ''Lavallois''. The commune of Laval proper, without the metropolitan area, is the 7th most populous in ...

.Lactalis: Michel Besnier
/ref> His father,

André Besnier Lactalis is a French multinational dairy products corporation, owned by the Besnier family and based in Laval, Mayenne, France. The company's former name was Besnier SA. Lactalis is the largest dairy products group in the world, and is the se ...

, founded the Besnier Group, a cheese company, in 1933.Le groupe Lactalis perd son président et propriétaire, Michel Besnier
'' Les Echos'', June 14, 2000 He received a

Certificat d'études primaires The certificat d'études primaires (CEP) was a diploma awarded at the end of elementary primary education in France (from 11 to 13 years inclusive until 1936) and certifying that the student had acquired basic skills in writing, reading, mathema ...

.Marie Bordet
Besnier, le milliardaire invisible
''

Le Point ''Le Point'' () is a French weekly political and news magazine published in Paris. History and profile ''Le Point'' was founded in September 1972 by a group of journalists who had, one year earlier, left the editorial team of '' L'Express'', w ...

'', May 19, 2011

Career

Besnier started his career at the family business alongside his father in 1946. After his father died in 1955, he became its Chief Executive Officer. He launched Président, the brand of

camembert Camembert (, also , ) is a moist, soft, creamy, surface-ripened cow's milk cheese. It was first made in the late 18th century in Camembert, Normandy, in northwest France. It is sometimes compared in look and taste to brie cheese, albeit with ...

, in 1968. He also acquired Lepetit, Lanquetot, puis Bridel, Lactel and Roquefort Société. His success lay in his ability to predict the vast expansion of supermarkets. He changed the company name to Lactalis in 1999.

Personal life

He married Christiane Besnier. They had two sons, Emmanuel and Jean-Michel, and a daughter, Marie. They owned a house in

Marbella Marbella ( , , ) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Costa del Sol and is the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the r ...

, Spain.

Death

He died on 11 June 2000 at his Marbella home. He was seventy-one years old.

References

1928 births 2000 deaths People from Laval, Mayenne People from Marbella 20th-century French businesspeople

Michel Michel may refer to: * Michel (name), a given name or surname of French origin (and list of people with the name) * Míchel (nickname), a nickname (a list of people with the nickname, mainly Spanish footballers) * Míchel (footballer, born 1963), ...

{{France-business-bio-stub