Louis René Fernand Gallois (, born 26 January 1944) is a French businessman. He was the CEO of

EADS Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: '' ...

, the European aeronautic defense and space company, from 2007 to 2012.

Education

Gallois was raised in Montauban, where he received his

Baccalauréat The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...

in 1961. After two years of a well-known private ''prépa'' school,

Sainte-Geneviève Saint Genevieve or Sainte-Geneviève may refer to: * Saint Genevieve (419/422–512), the patron of Paris * Saint Geneviève de Loqueffret (10th century), a local saint from Loqueffret, Brittany Buildings * Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, a lib ...

, he attended business school at

HEC Paris HEC Paris (french: École des hautes études commerciales de Paris) is a business school, and one of the most prestigious and selective grandes écoles, located in Jouy-en-Josas, France. HEC offers Master in Management, MSc International Fin ...

, a Grande école, graduating in 1966. He then went on to ÉNA, one of the most prestigious ''grandes écoles'', graduating in 1972.

Career

Gallois headed several government departments during his career. He was appointed head of the civil and military cabinet in the French defense ministry (1988–1989). He was chairman and CEO of Snecma, an aircraft and rocket engine manufacturer, from 1989 to 1992, when he became CEO of

Aérospatiale Aérospatiale (), sometimes styled Aerospatiale, was a French state-owned aerospace manufacturer that built both civilian and military aircraft, rockets and satellites. It was originally known as Société nationale industrielle aérospatiale ...

, a French state-owned aviation company. He headed that company until 1996, when he became President of

SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffic ...

, France's national state-owned railway company. Gallois joined EADS on 2 July 2006 following the resignation of

Noël Forgeard Noël Forgeard (born 8 December 1946 in La Ferté-Gaucher) is a French industrialist and former joint CEO of EADS. Appointment From April 1998 until June 2005, Forgeard was CEO of the aircraft manufacturer Airbus SAS. In late 2004, he was nom ...

. Forgeard resigned after allegations of

insider trading Insider trading is the trading of a public company's stock or other securities (such as bonds or stock options) based on material, nonpublic information about the company. In various countries, some kinds of trading based on insider informati ...

, which he denied. Forgeard had sold EADS stock weeks before its

Airbus Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: '' ...

subsidiary announced that the

Airbus A380 The Airbus A380 is a large wide-body airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus. It is the world's largest passenger airliner and only full-length double-deck jet airliner. Airbus studies started in 1988, and the project was annou ...

would be delayed again. The announcement caused a 26% slump in the EADS share price. On 9 October 2006 Gallois replaced

Christian Streiff Christian Streiff (born 21 September 1954) is a French businessman. Streiff was born at Sarrebourg, Moselle. He was nominated chief executive officer of the European commercial aircraft manufacturer Airbus Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European ...

as the CEO of the aircraft manufacturer

S.A.S. On 16 July 2007 EADS's management structure was changed and Gallois was appointed CEO of EADS for 5 years. He was replaced on 31 May 2012 by the then CEO of Airbus, Tom Enders. Gallois is a member of the board of directors of École Centrale Paris and President of the ''Fondation Villette-Entreprises''. In 2012, immediately after leaving EADS, Gallois became the government's Commissioner for Investment. He held his position until 2014. He is elected in June 2012 president of the FNARS (Fédération nationale des associations d'accueil et de réinsertion sociale), a group focusing on social and solidarity actions.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gallois, Louis 1944 births Living people HEC Paris alumni École nationale d'administration alumni French chief executives French rail transport chief executives People from Montauban Airbus people SNCF people Grand Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire